Gentle at Heart
by WretchedWords
Summary: COMPLETE. Gentle Heart lamb believes that she is different than the rest of her family, which leads to her making decisions that could either be very right or wrong. That is, with the help of someone she wouldn't have expected.
1. Apprentice

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Carebear characters within this story.  
A/N: Well, here it is just about a month since I have finished 'Disarmed.' Already I'm on another story. I believe this is going to be better than the past one since the plotline isn't so complicated and there aren't any original characters. Anyway, review if you like or to flame. I need some constructive criticism for this story. Enjoy!

Into The Fog  
WretchedWords

**1. Apprentice **

Thin cirrus clouds graced the bright, blue skies as a cloud car slowly hovered through the skies. Gentle Heart lamb and Playful Heart monkey both sat inside of the car, Playful armed with a star-o-scope and Gentle Heart drove as safely as she could while watching the beautiful scenery. Winter had finally disappeared, being replaced by trees with buds beginning to appear and soft new grass coating the ground. The lamb rested her head in a paw, her other left on the steering wheel as she admired the scenery. From an aerial view, forests know looked like patches of white and pink from the new blossoms just beginning to bloom. She felt the cloud car lean more to the right, and looked over to see Playful Heart leaning as far out from the car as he possibly could. Gentle Heart gasped. "Playful Heart! You'll fall out!"

The monkey cousin dropped the star-o-scope that he was looking through on to his seat as he hopped back inside of the cloud car. Gentle Heart put both her paws on the steering wheel as the weight in the cloud car made it shift once again. He flashed her a toothy smile. "I'm not gonna fall! I've been doing stuff like this for all my life…"

With that, he leaned out of the cloud car again, wrapping his tail around the door handle inside of the car to keep from falling forward. The lamb blinked, and sighed, turning her attention back to what was ahead of her. She was normally used to going on caring missions alone, and this was probably only her third or fourth time she went with someone else. In fact, she rarely had to go on missions. Yes, there were a lot of kids on Earth that needed her help, but even she had to admit, that there weren't too many cases where the kids or people actually needed her specific help. Gentle Heart looked down at her paws as she drove, now ignoring Playful Heart performing his stunts. Sometimes it felt like she wasn't needed in the family… she was just an extra or a substitute if another Carebears or cousin couldn't go on a mission for whatever reason.

"Over there!"

Gentle Heart jumped at the sudden outburst of her caring partner and looked down at where he was pointing. His finger was directed seemingly towards nowhere. She shrugged, and directed the cloud car to where he said they needed to go. Gentle Heart drove into a clearing in the woods that they were in and parked the car. As the two got out, Gentle Heart gulped. It had been at least a month straight, surprisingly, since she had last been on a caring mission. She hoped that she hadn't lost the touch of a Carebear. Playful put a paw to his chin. "I think she was over… there!"

Playful Heart grabbed unto a low hanging branch of a tree and swung himself on top of it. Gentle Heart didn't say anything as he took off, leaping from branch to branch. With a sigh, she began running to keep up with her partner who was as fast as Greased Lightning. She watched as Playful Heart skidded to a halt on a branch and jumped down. Gentle Heart, panting, walked to his side and then looked forward to see a girl looking very lonely, sitting on a log in the middle of a small clearing. She felt a small pit of nervousness develop in her stomach, hoping that she wouldn't completely ruin the caring mission. She didn't know if a mission had ever gone completely horrible before. She didn't want to be the first. The two walked over. Gentle Heart cleared her throat, calling out to the girl. "Are you alright?"

The girl on the log looked up, and now having a good look of her face, Gentle Heart assumed the girl was maybe eleven or twelve. The girl had blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and bright green eyes, and it was easy to tell that she would grow up to become very beautiful. The girl blinked, a tear running down her face. It was clear that she had been crying for quite some time. "Do I _look_ alright?"

The two Carebear cousins exchanged glances. Inwardly, Gentle Heart was wondering why she just happened to get the caring mission with the stubborn girl, and immediately felt guilty for thinking such a thing. Playful Heart cleared his throat, trying a new approach. "Maybe you don't know us… we're the Careb-"

"The Carebears and the Carebear cousins, I've heard about you," the girl answered, "And you can't help me, so leave me alone."

"Sure we can!" Playful Heart said, hopping on the log to sit down. Gentle Heart followed suit and softly cleared her throat, "We can try if you just explain."

The girl wiped a tear from her eyes, forcing herself to smile in disbelief. "I heard you Carebears are all one family, so you wouldn't know what I'm going through. No one does."

"We're here for you," Gentle Heart bleated quietly, "We can help all that we can. What's your name?"

"Cassidy, but that won't help at all," The girl answered, standing up as if trying to get away from them. "Now leave me alone! You have a perfect family, so you won't understand anything that I'm going through."

Playful Heart leaned over to Gentle Heart. "Maybe we should do a Carebear call… this calls for the work of Friend Bear."

Gentle Heart stared at the soft grass on the ground, thinking. Might as well… there was a good chance that she couldn't pull off the work that Friend Bear could. Everyone got along with her… but why wouldn't this girl just get along with Gentle Heart? Was she doing something wrong? Playful poked her in the side again. "Hello? Earth to Gentle Heart…"

She snapped out of her thoughts with a slight jump. "We should."

Playful Heart jumped up from the log. "You just hold on a minute, Cassidy. We're gonna get someone that I think you'll like."

With that, his tummy symbol glowed before the girl waved her hands frantically. "No!"

Playful Heart paused from readying the call, and cocked his head to the side. "What's wrong?"

Cassidy folded her arms across her chest. "I don't want any more of you coming here to try and 'help' me. If you're gonna keep doing this, I might as well tell you what's wrong and get it over with."

Playful looked at Gentle Heart, and shrugged, sitting back down next to her. "Okay. What is it that's bugging you?"

"Like I said, you aren't going to understand. Everyone in my family are all these great big 'successors' in life, except for me," she explained, twiddling her fingers on 'successors' for emphasis, "And I'm the only one without some sort of God-given talent, so no one cares about what I do. If I'm good at one thing, it's losing and having my family annoyed."

"You aren't annoying anyone, Cassidy," Playful Heart said, Gentle Heart silent.

She had to admit that this caring mission was a bit convenient. She always felt this way… but what the girl said about talent opened her eyes. All of the Carebear family had some special talent… that is, everyone except her. As Playful talked to the girl, she thought of what talent everyone could possibly have. Bright Heart was a genius, Harmony Bear could sing, Lotsa-Heart elephant was the strongest person she had ever met. She could go on forever about each member of the family. Gentle Heart forced herself back into reality. She shouldn't be thinking selfish things like that on a caring mission. She listened to what Playful Heart was saying.

"Everyone has talents, Cassidy. They may not be exactly like the ones of your family, but there has got to be one down inside," Playful said.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "And what might that be?"

"Well, you're pretty good at debating based off of what I've been hearing from you," Playful Heart grinned.

Cassidy didn't smile. She just stared, not finding humor in the joke whatsoever. Playful stopped grinning… it wasn't too often that he couldn't get someone to smile. "Maybe you can come to Care-A lot. All of the other Carebears can help you find that talent."

"No way!" She retorted, "I came to these woods to get away from people, so I'm not leaving it to see any one!"

She marched to the log and sat down. Gentle Heart blinked, knowing that it would take more than the strength of Lotsa-Heart to get this girl unglued from the log. She looked at Playful Heart, who had an expression of hopelessness. She could tell that he was really considering a Carebear call. Gentle Heart decided to try to help Cassidy. "Cassidy, you shouldn't treat yourself like this…"

"Get AWAY!" The girl suddenly shouted, nearly knocking Gentle Heart backwards with surprise, "I don't want your help! I don't need your help or anyone else's! I _hate_ you just like everyone else so stop trying!"

The lamb was silent. Not once in her life had anyone told them that they hated her. Sure, there was No Heart, but he hated everyone and everything except for himself. At first, she hardly felt any emotion except for shock, wondering if she was the first Carebear to ever be told this. She heard Playful Heart lightly say something along the lines of, "I'm gonna do a call and get some help here."

"No," Gentle Heart softly spoke, "I'll get them. I'm not helping."

The monkey cousin raised his eyebrows. "Sure you are! You don't have to… leave."

She had already begun walking toward the cloud car before he could finish his sentence. He watched as she quietly got inside of the cloud car and steered it out of the clearing in a hurry. She usually drove very cautiously and slowly, but now it looked at though she was desperate to leave. He watched her leave, driving out of view behind the trees of the woods. Playful Heart turned to look at Cassidy, who was still sitting firmly on the log. She narrowed her eyes. "You planning on lecturing to me about how I treat myself, too?"

He weakly smiled. "Never…"

Gentle Heart had been in the cloud car for only a second before she felt the first stings of emotion catch up with her. She could feel her throat tightening as she wondered more about what had just happened. "This has to be the first time a Carebear has been told that," she said to herself softly as the first sign of tears came.

"Told what?"

She jumped, and then looked down to see that by the way she was sitting, her knee was pressing down the radio 'talk' button. She quickly wiped the few tears in her eyes away as if afraid of someone seeing her crying, and lifted up the radio. "Never mind. Are a lot of Carebears free right now?"

"Sure," The voice of Tender Heart replied, "You don't sound too good. Need any help?"

"I'm not feeling too well," she answered in the radio. Her throat was scratchy and burning from trying to keep herself from making it apparent she was crying, "But Playful Heart needs help on a caring mission. Is Friend Bear there?"

"Just about everyone but her," Tender Heart answered. "What's the problem?"

"It's too long to explain," Gentle Heart replied, not wanting to explain just what exactly happened. If she was lucky, Playful Heart wouldn't say anything either, "Then, maybe Cheer Bear or Champ should help instead."

"Okay, then," Tender Heart said, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," Gentle Heart hurriedly answered, "Bye."

With that, she pressed the 'off' button of the radio and leaned back in her seat. She finally exhaled, realizing that she had been holding it for quite some time and then inhaled strongly. It hurt her throat somehow even more, but she somehow found relief that she wouldn't have to go to the Carebears herself like this and explain what had happened. She turned the cloud car in the direction of the Forest of Feelings so she could finally go home. The convenient thing about having a home is the air that traveling to it only was flying in a straight line. It only took twelve minutes for her to arrive there and jump out of the Cloud Car. It disappeared as she walked to the home that she had lived in for what seemed like an eternity. The Forest of Feelings wasn't very different from the forest that she was just in with Playful Heart and Cassidy. The flowers were radiant and the colors were warm, the signs of Spring just beginning.

Her house was surrounded by a natural garden she always stopped to admire during the spring and summer days, but now she ignored the brightly colored flowers and plants, and went inside of her small house. The first thing that she did was wander into the kitchen. Whenever she felt stressed from a caring mission or something that had happened recently with No Heart, the first thing she did was make a cup of tea. She rummaged through her cupboards until she found a tea kettle. "I wonder if Noble and True Heart have ever been told that they were hated…"

She placed the pot on the stove and turned the knob until flames appeared. The lamb sauntered into the kitchen, now only having to wait. Normally, she would be doing things with her friends in Care-A lot or the Forest of Feelings at this time. Gentle Heart stared at her paws as she sat on the counter of the kitchen. How is it possible that just one single girl could have this much of an effect on one Carebear? Maybe this has happened to someone else in family and they also just decided not to tell anyone about it. Not everyone could have absolutely perfect caring missions, could they?

The skies were cloudless as Gentle Heart walked behind Brave Heart lion who had a rolled blanket underneath one arm. She stared at the skies above her as Brave Heart talked to himself about the most perfect place for a picnic. With Gentle Heart was a small group of Carebears and cousins consisting of Love-A-lot Bear, Funshine Bear, Good Luck Bear, Cozy Heart penguin and Proud Heart cat. She looked forward as there was a triumphant sound coming from Brave Heart. He pointed at the soft grass on the ground. "This is it! This is the spot that we'll stay!"

Love-A-Lot giggled. "It isn't that important…"

The lion looked at her strangely, flicking his tail. "Not important? The last time I had a picnic, it was right where Beastly decided to crash land in his flying bicycle! I gotta be more careful these days…"

Proud Heart cat sighed. "Can you put the blanket on the ground? I'm not going to sit in all of the dirt…"

The lion shrugged, grabbing unto a blanket corner, and then rolled on the ground to unroll it. Everyone sat down as Good Luck Bear set his basket on the ground and opened it with a sigh. "I haven't relaxed in forever."

Love-A-Lot nodded as she was passed a sub sandwich. "There has been a lot of caring missions lately. What's the world coming to?"

Gentle Heart took her own sandwich and then passed another to Funshine and Cozy Heart. It had been only three days since what had happened on Earth with Cassidy. Now, she thought a bit more differently than she was earlier. It wasn't her fault that of all Carebears, she was chosen to be the one of this girl. It was just coincidence, and it would be for any other Carebear. She hadn't yet talked to Playful Heart, Champ or Cheer Bear about what had happened on account of the fact that Love-A-Lot was right… Care-A lot had been loaded with caring missions for the majority of the week. Luckily, none of them were the fault of No Heart and his shadows. So now, having a picnic in their one ounce of free time felt like a relief.

The actual picnic itself didn't last very long… it had only been at least half an hour before Love-A-Lot was called to earth to help a girl with boyfriend problems. Soon after, Brave Heart also had to leave, only leaving Gentle Heart, Proud Heart, Funshine and Cozy Heart. The four sat for a while, when it began to show that the afternoon was beginning to morph into the times closer to nighttime. The four left, Gentle Heart walking with Proud Heart. The lamb kicked a small pebble as the two walked along. It was silent for a long while.

"…Do you think that Carebears can actually like each other?" Proud Heart asked from seemingly nowhere.

Gentle Heart's ear perked up. "But we already like each other."

The cat smiled slightly with a laugh. "What a mean is have feelings for each other. You know, romantic stuff?"

Gentle Heart blinked. She had no idea where this came from. "Um… I don't know. Why?"

Proud Heart kicked the pebble also, looking at her home with was further down the path. "Because I've been thinking lately. Do you think Noble Heart and True Heart have something more than just a family relationship sort of thing?"

The lamb stopped to think a moment. Weren't they just really good friends like any other member of the Carebear family? It wasn't as if it was disgusting for the Carebears to have romantic feelings or anything… it wasn't as if the Carebears and cousins were actually related by blood or genetics. Gentle Heart didn't know much about family genes and scientific things, but she knew that the Carebear family got its title by the fact that everyone cared for each other equally and as a family. But as for Noble Heart and True Heart… she heard stories about them being friends way earlier than they became actual Carebears, when they were just a regular bear and a regular horse. Turning her focus back on to the question that Proud Heart had asked, she shrugged. "I really don't know. I never thought of it before."

Proud Heart paused on the path that led to her house with a grin. "I'm pretty sure that there's a cousin that might have feelings for someone else."

Gentle Heart cocked her head to the side. "Who?"

Instead of an answer, the feline gave a slight shiver. "It is getting kind of cold… don't want my fur to be affected somehow. Buh-bye."

Gentle Heart also began walking further down the path leading to her own house. It actually didn't feel that cold at all. It would be around another ten to fifteen minutes until she got to her own home, which was located farther into the woods by a spring. She hummed softly to herself as the skies grew from pink and orange to a violet and dark blue hybrid. It was nearing seven at night most likely, and this had to be her longest time of the week as for not having any caring missions. Gentle Heart had been staring at the ground for some time when there was a rustle in the trees above her. She stopped, looking up and then was surprised to see something she hadn't even noticed before. There was a heavy fog all around her… the farthest she could see forward was a few yards before it was swallowed by the fog. Gentle Heart gulped, continuing to walk. It was spring. Fog always came in on the mornings, so why not at night? Gentle Heart didn't keep track of the time as she walked forward… she was too busy looking around at how little she could see. She had perfectly memorized the path to her home… she remembered just about every thing from a branch of a tree to every single blade of grass. But where she was now was unfamiliar… if there wasn't so much fog she probably would have known where she was.

But now she was hopelessly lost. The lamb stopped a moment, looking around nervously. She closed her eyes, tummy symbol glowing. It produced a pink light that didn't affect the dense fog at all except make it appear pink around her. She groaned in both worry and frustration, sitting on the ground. Why did this have to happen now of all times? She thought a moment, contemplating on a way to get out of this situation. Based on appearances, the fog wasn't going to clear up any time soon.

"Fancy I find you out here at this hour."

She jumped to her feet, recognizing the voice in an instant. Her light blue eyes scanned the fog in front of her, trying to pinpoint where it had come from. There was a snap to her right, and with a gasp she whirled to face it. She could barely make out a dark shape lounging on a tree limb in a relaxed pose. Gentle Heart tried not to let out a yelp as her eyes adjusted to the setting and she could tell that the shape was no more than a big cat of some kind. It seemed to be inspecting dagger-like claws, tail point slowly flicking in thought. The cat then sat up, and pounced, landing gracefully on the ground no more than two yards from Gentle Heart. She cursed herself for not realizing that this fog couldn't have been natural as the panther morphed into something much taller. No Heart.

Gentle Heart began backing away, now wishing that she had the courage of Brave Heart. There wasn't that much distance between the two when she felt the bark of a tree at her back. Cornered, Gentle Heart looked up into his hood frightfully, managing to say something. "What do y-you want?"

She could almost feel his smile as he spoke. "I only want to tell something to you… a proposition."

The Carebear cousin didn't like the sound of that. She straightened, tummy symbol glowing to ready a Carebear stare as if to warn him, though she knew that she alone couldn't harm him almost at all. No Heart merely blinked. "There isn't a need for that… harming you in any way isn't any where near my intentions."

She didn't stop the stare preparation despite his claim. No Heart was a liar, cheater and sorcerer who wouldn't just do this out of nowhere. Gentle Heart attempted to look unafraid. "I don't believe you."

"And I wouldn't expect you to," No Heart answered calmly, "It must be very odd for me to appear to someone I have been trying to destroy for some time and act perfectly natural. Still, you must listen to me."

Gentle Heart stepped sideways until the tree wasn't behind her. Now she could turn and run whenever she wanted… and then she realized she would have only a small chance of getting away. He could morph into anything he wanted, including a cheetah, horse or anything else that could outrun her. Instead, she thought of something else. She once again put on her determined expression, though she could tell herself that it probably wasn't convincing. "You better get away… because my family will get here soon."

No Heart laughed. "It would take hours for them to respond to your call in all of this fog."

Gentle Heart realized she was already defeated and looked at the ground. "What do you want from me?"

The sorcerer walked forward, moving more out of the surrounding fog. "I am going to make this short as possible… You are different from the rest of your family, whether you are aware of this or not. I have noticed it for quite some time, though you most likely think that I would never notice along with everyone else."

Gentle Heart blinked, looking at the ground curiously. Why would she be different from anyone else in her family? She would have thought of the caring mission she had with Playful Heart and the Cassidy girl, but No Heart had said that he noticed her difference for some time.

No Heart continued, "Magic is a complicated thing. It only works correctly for few people to be true. I believe that you are the type for magic…"

Gentle Heart perked her ears, catching the last sentence with a bit of shock. She was gradually finding what he was saying a bit too much. She looked up slowly to meet his gaze. She didn't say anything. There wasn't much to say to begin with except for her to just listen and understand more.

"This isn't a case of who is and who isn't an enemy anymore," No Heart answered in a tone that caught her attention, "I could show you magic."

This was finally going in a direction that Gentle Heart didn't want to stay in too much longer. Why would No Heart choose her of all Carebears? She wasn't _that_ different. Gentle Heart took a step back, and she could already tell that he knew what she was planning. Still, she turned and began running farther into the fog. The lamb looked around her, trying to find any indication that she was heading toward any of the other homes of a Carebear cousin. Everything around her was unfamiliar. Looking behind her shoulder, she didn't see No Heart anywhere, nor could she see him. Gentle Heart looked ahead of her again, still feeling as though this still wasn't a safe moment. Then, she looked to her right and saw something glimmer through the fog. The lake! Cozy Heart was there. Suddenly, there was a dark purple flash in front of her and she couldn't move forward. Opening her eyes, she saw something thick and scaled in front her. Surprisingly she didn't scream despite the fear of what form No Heart had taken.

As a boa constrictor, No Heart somehow managed to hang from the tree branches hidden in the fog, making it appear as though his coils were suspended in the air by nothing. A long portion of his dark purple coils prevented her from moving forward. The lamb stepped back before bumping into another coil that was much more close to his head. No Heart flicked his tongue out, bringing his red eyes close to hers for emphasis. "Many people would go to extremes just to simply hear an offer such as this one. This is more of a favor I am doing for you than you actually realize. Now, there are two options that you have. To either listen, or continue to be a nobody in the Carebear family. This is an offer you only find once in life."

Gentle Heart blinked. A nobody? "How did you know that?"

The snake smiled slightly. "I know much more than you think I do. I know that you are the only one that I would offer this to. I also believe you are having a problem with 'talents?' Magic can simply solve that, also." With that said, he moved his coils so she had a way to escape, "Now… would you rather listen or continue to be the family member that is overlooked?"

Gentle Heart looked at the opening that she had now. She thought carefully. She knew that it was wrong, but she was beginning to realize No Heart was right. She was a nobody. Could magic really solve that? Could she really be heartless enough to hide the fact she was learning magic from her family? She bit down on her lip. She was still very unaware why No Heart was telling all of this to her… but would she somehow regret it if she said no to something as wrong as this? No Heart waited for an answer, and she finally could only nod. He smiled, circling around to face her front. "Then you shall learn more."

He gave her a light shove with his head, and she stepped backwards to be forced to sit on something. Looking up, she realized that his thickest coils that were once in the tree had been lowered to form a U-shape, making the rest of his body into a 'swing.' She shuddered, still not liking to be this close to a snake, nor a snake that was truly No Heart in another form. He flicked his tongue thoughtfully, his head and upper body still suspended by the tree in front of her. "It is time that I teach magic to another, an 'apprentice' so to say… my reasons will not be explained thoroughly."

Gentle Heart placed her hands on the coils on either side of her, still silent though there were hundreds of questions buzzing in her head. No Heart continued, "You must be thinking that this is all a plan to lure you into my castle, but I assure you that it isn't. This doesn't involve an adversary with the Carebear family in any way."

Gentle Heart stopped, looking into his eyes for the first time. She was surprised to say that she could tell he was telling the truth. Just about every Carebear had a knack for knowing whether or not someone was lying or telling the truth… it was very useful in caring missions. She cleared her throat and softly bleated, "I can't leave my family."

"Of course you can't," No Heart answered calmly, "You do not have to leave your family. However, they must not learn by all means. This would be more for your sake than mine."

The Carebear cousin looked at the ground, wondering how she was being talked into all of this. She suddenly heard something further into the fog along with No Heart. They both looked toward it, No Heart more suddenly. She could feel the muscles in his coils tense, and then he faced her once again and said quickly, "I am aware that you may change your mind. However, if you do not, you know where to find me."

He adjusted his coils so she would gently slide off and then disappeared into the trees above. Along with his disappearance, the fog began clear very quickly. Gentle Heart stood silent for a moment, wondering what just had happened as the voice grew clearer.

"Gentle Heart? Gentle!"

She recognized it as a familiar cousin. At that moment, Playful Heart came running over panting. He saw Gentle Heart and skidded to a halt. He bent over, breathing heavily. "Gentle…Heart… who was that… with you?"

She opened her mouth, her first reaction to say 'No Heart,' but found herself surprisingly deciding against it. Instead, she shuffled her foot on the ground. "No one was with me. Why are you here?"

Playful Heart finally caught his breath enough to stand up. He raised an eyebrow. "I was coming home from Care-A lot but got lost in the trees in this fog. Then I heard you talking to someone. I could've sworn it was…"

Gentle Heart shook her head. "You were hearing things."

Then the monkey cousin seemed to think of something. "Why are_ you_ out here? I thought you had a picnic with Brave Heart and everyone else."

She nodded. "I did. I was going home and got a little lost. I guess I should be on my way."

Playful Heart hopped forward, wrapping his tail around a tree branch and dangling down. "It's getting' late. I'll walk you home."

Gentle Heart nodded. "Okay. That's nice of you, Playful Heart."

He hopped down with a grin. "No problem!"

Thanks to Gentle Heart running through the Forest of Feelings, it was only a longer walk to her house. Playful Heart was his usually perky self, finding amusement in everything he did, even something as simple as kicking a rock. Gentle Heart, on the other hand, had an opposite mood. Her thoughts were on the offer No Heart had made her. She was still very unsure of what to do. Playful Heart seemed to detect this emotion and took a pause from kicking the rock. "Are you okay?"

She looked up, brought back into reality and nodded. "Yeah."

Playful Heart thought a moment. "It isn't about that caring mission, is it?"  
Gentle Heart sighed. She seemed to have forgotten it over the past days. The monkey cousins realized his mistake and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry for bringing it up. I didn't know that it was that bad."

She looked up, forcing herself to smile though it said the opposite of what she really felt. "It's nothing."

Playful Heart raised an eyebrow, very well knowing that she wasn't telling the truth. He knew that Gentle Heart was always the quiet one and didn't talk very openly about her feelings, but now he wasn't sure what to say. Every Carebear and cousin had a different personality, and a different way to express themselves, but Gentle Heart was complicated with how she expressed herself. He looked guiltily at the ground. "Okay then…"

Gentle Heart looked up, surprised to see that her home was just ahead. The time had passed much faster than she thought it had. The two reached the small path that entered into her garden, which looked ever more radiant underneath the moon's light. Gentle and Playful Heart stopped to say their goodbyes.

"Thanks," Gentle Heart said softly.

Playful Heart grinned. "No problem. I needed the exercise."

She turned to start walking before Playful Heart decided to say something else and lightly grabbed her arm. She stopped and looked at him. He looked at his feet, tailing swishing as if out of nervous habit. Gentle Heart waited for him to say something, and he finally looked up from his feet. "You know you could tell me _anything_, right?"

She nodded. "Yes…"

"Okay, just making sure," Playful Heart said rather suddenly, and bounded off, waving behind him before jumping into a tree. "Good night!"

Gentle Heart also gave him a small wave before heading back to her home. That seemed a bit out of character for him. Heading inside of her home, she went straight to her bed before brushing her teeth or having a night snack. She would have a lot of thinking to do tomorrow.


	2. Soccer games and matchmaking

A/N: For those of you who think it is, this story isn't related to Disarmed in anyway. It's basically separate, and things in Disarmed never happened or will aside from shadow attacks.

**2. Soccer games and match-making**

The Hall of Hearts cafeteria was full of Carebears and cousins as morning arrived in both Care-A lot and the Forest of Feelings. Not everyone went to the cafeteria for breakfast, since they had kitchens like any other home would in their houses. The cafeteria was mainly there for individuals who were in a rush for caring missions or just didn't feel like cooking. Gentle Heart lamb quietly sat at a table, poking her fried eggs with a plastic fork. She wasn't very hungry at the time. Cheer Bear, also sitting at the table, noticed this. "What's wrong, Gentle? You looked about as happy as Cold Heart in a desert."

Gentle Heart looked up, forcing herself to smile. "I'm okay. What are you guys talking about?"

"We're planning out the birthday party for True Heart," Cheer Bear answered, "It's gonna be great!"

True Heart had a birthday approaching in almost two weeks. In Care-A lot, birthdays were just about as important as Christmas. Not one birthday party has been alike, and there wasn't anyone who didn't enjoy it. Gentle Heart looked down at the table, overhearing the conversation. It was going to take place in the Forest of Feelings. She went back to poking at her eggs. It wasn't as if she wasn't interested or didn't care about the party. It was just that her mind was overloaded with too many things to think about. Last night she had only gotten six hours of rest, on account of thinking of decisions to make for several things. The main thought was No Heart announcing to her that he would openly teach her magic. She tried to tell herself it was a trick, but there was a voice in the back of her mind saying that it wasn't a trap. She saw it for herself that he wasn't lying. There was a rattle as Playful Heart jumped on to a seat across from Gentle Heart, Birthday Bear sitting next to him.

"Hi, Gentle. Hi, Cheer Bear," he greeted the two and immediately began digging into his stack of pancakes with more syrup than it needed.

Cheer Bear wrinkled her nose. "Have you ever heard of diabetes?"

Playful laughed, spewing pancake crumbs all over her. "You worry too much!"

Gentle Heart giggled despite the fact that she was having a very troubled week. Birthday Bear had already finished his two sausages and burped very loudly. "Gentle Heart! Do you have any free time today?"

The lamb nodded, finally beginning to eat her eggs. They had grown cold, but were better than nothing. "Yeah. I'm probably not going to have any caring missions today."

"Good!" Birthday responded quickly, "Because today we're all gonna go to Earth and play a good game of…"

"SOCCER!" Playful and Birthday shouted at the top of their lungs. It was their favorite game in the entire world, and they could beat nearly everyone. That is, except for Champ Bear.

Gentle Heart twitched at their outburst along with everyone else in the Hall of Hearts. The two of them stared at her with puppy eyes, waiting for a reaction. She put much more thought into it than she probably needed, and finally nodded. "Sure."

"Great! You can be on my team," Playful Heart said excitedly, "And while all of us are on Earth, we can have a picnic! Just like what you had yesterday only ten times better!"

Brave Heart, who had also recently joined the table, snorted. "I doubt that. Who all is coming?"

"Anyone who can," Birthday Bear answered, "So we gotta bring truckloads of food. I'll make the cake!"

Gentle Heart soon finished. "When is everyone leaving?"

"An hour," Birthday answered, "So I have enough time to make a cake. We can all meet here at the Hall of Hearts."

"Okay, I'll be here," Gentle Heart answered, and then left the table to set her tray down and leave for the Forest of Feelings. Going to Earth would be a good idea… that way she could hopefully have time to do other things aside from constantly thinking of what No Heart had said. She produced a cloud car with her tummy symbol and headed to the Forest of Feelings to help with bringing snacks to the picnic.

Gentle Heart was surprised to see that everyone in the Carebear family was waiting at the Hall of Hearts an hour later. She arrived in her cloud car, being sure not to make it disappear when she shut the door. Playful Heart and Birthday Bear stood off to the side, already warming up for the game that they were convinced would be the best of them all. She walked over to the two, carrying a tray in her paws. Birthday was the first to dash over and peek inside. "Ooh… lemon squares."

"For the picnic," she said, pulling it away from him with a smile, "So where do I put this?"  
"My cloud car," Birthday answered.

Playful Heart also walked over, twirling the soccer ball at the tip of his tail skillfully. "Yeah, if you want him to eat it all. You can put it in that one over there."

He pointed to a cloud car that was already full of trays and plates in the back seat. Grumpy Bear was in the front, waiting impatiently. Gentle Heart walked over and carefully set her own tray on the others, positioning it so it wouldn't fall. Grumpy Bear simply sighed, seeing that his load would be even heavier. "When are we going to be leaving?"  
She shrugged. "Playful Heart and Birthday Bear have to lead us to Earth. I guess we leave when they do,"

Grumpy Bear stood in his cloud car and cupped his paws around his muzzle. "Playful, Birthday! You mind hurrying up?"

The two stopped bouncing the ball on their heads and grinned sheepishly. In only another moment, everyone was off in their cloud cars and rainbow rollers. Gentle Heart was in a cloud car with Tender Heart driving, Bright Heart in the passengers seat, and with Gentle Heart in the back seat was Secret Bear. All of them followed Playful Heart and Birthday bear, who drove down to Earth for their specific spot to play. In twenty minutes, they arrived at a familiar place in woods. Gentle Heart climbed out of the cloud car, looking around her. It was the same place that she had been earlier on the caring mission with Playful Heart. They parked the cloud cars, a few disappearing for they wouldn't be needed in awhile. Playful Heart waved his arms to grab everyone's attention. "Over here!"

With that, he began walking to the familiar clearing with the same log, and past it was a field. The spring sun shined warmly on the grass of the field, making it appear as though the several flowers around it was glowing from the rays. It was nearly two times the size of a regular soccer field, which made room for the picnic. Birthday Bear grabbed the soccer ball from Playful Heart and kicked it into the air, bouncing it off of his head. "Come on, let's play!"

"Hold your horses," Noble Heart said, no pun intended, "We should all help set up the picnic first. I don't think everyone would want to play soccer at once."

"Right!" Lotsa-Heart elephant agreed, wobbling into the field, carrying a tray in each hand and one with his trunk. "We gotta get a blanket before I drop these, and that's the truth."

Soon enough, the picnic area was all set. There had to be a tray from each family member, and it was the perfect day for the occasion. Gentle Heart set down a thick plate with brownies piled on it and stood up only to see a grinning Playful Heart. He held the soccer ball in his paws. "We're starting the game! Are you playing?"

The lamb blushed. "I'm not very good at sports…"

Playful Heart grabbed her paw and led her to the field with an assuring smile. "It's alright. You could still have fun!"

Gentle Heart didn't protest as they walked to a large group in the middle of the field. It seemed as though she was the last person that was needed to start the game. She joined the group and waited as there was a coin flip to see which captain chose a team members first, and who what side of the field. The captains were Playful Heart, unsurprisingly, and Birthday Bear let Wish Bear take his place. The two looked anxiously at the coin now on the ground, and Wish Bear grinned. "I go first!"

The turquoise bear then faced the now lined crowd with a paw on her chin. "Hmm… I choose… Champ!"

Champ Bear walked forward to join her group, leaving Playful Heart to choose. He answered quickly, "Gentle Heart."

She walked forward slowly. Why did he choose her of all the Carebears? She had to be the least athletic of them all that was in the group. Wish chose Lotsa-Heart next, and Playful Chose Swift Heart. Soon, the teams were chosen, and the game was about to begin. Goals of thick fallen branches were made by sticking the branches in the ground. Playful Heart huddled with his team, looking thoughtfully as everyone, telling everyone the play they were going to do. Gentle Heart didn't understand a thing that he was saying, but acted as though she did for the sake of everyone else on their team. Soon, they were all on the field and the game started.

Gentle Heart simply stood, watching the ball be stolen from Playful by Birthday, Birthday would kick it to Champ, Champ to Lotsa-Heart before being stolen by Playful Heart once again. A lot of players were just staring at the sky or ground, knowing that this would happen for a while. But Gentle Heart paid attention to something, or someone else. Out of the corner of her eye, she found herself always looking to two Carebears. True Heart and Noble Heart both stood to the side of the game, both being referees. Were they really in a romantic relationship? Gentle Heart felt very rude thinking of another's business, but Proud Heart had made her think about Carebears being in relationships. It could be possible… maybe just no one was attracted to each other at the time like that. Gentle Heart sighed, thinking of all the human movies she had watched where the guy and girl get together. They all seemed so fun and happy. Why couldn't a Carebear have a relationship that a human couldn't? Looking at the two referees, she saw Noble Heart whisper something into True Heart's ear, making her laugh. It didn't seem all that impossible the two.

"Gentle Heart! Head's up!"

She looked forward again to the ball coming straight her way. Inwardly she groaned… she was horrible at sports. She was ready to kick it when Playful Heart leaped out of nowhere and rescued her from having an embarrassing moment by kicking the ball to the side before catching it with a foot. He smiled at her. "It's okay. I know you don't like getting physic-"

He was cut off by Champ Bear shouldering him hard enough to get him away from the ball. Playful Heart hit the ground and rolled in the soft grass before leaping to his feet again to see Champ running away with the ball, laughing. Playful grinned. "You better run!"

Gentle Heart watched him run after Champ with a slight smile. She would have to thank him for that later. He was right, she really didn't like getting too physical. She had neither the mind nor the body to do so… it would take magic to get her on her feet and playing anything. That thought made her groan out loud. Why did she have to think of that? Her mind wandered off to what had happened last night within the Forest of Feelings, and No Heart proposing to teach her magic. She wasn't supposed to be thinking of this right now. She was supposed to be at least trying to focus on the soccer game which she wasn't even playing in. Still, she couldn't help herself. On the spot, she shut her eyes. _Alright_, she thought, _I'll make my decision now if I have to. So… what's the benefit of having magic?_  
She thought of all that could be possible with magic. For as long as she could remember knowing No Heart, she was always amazed at just what he could do and also what Dark Heart did. Though Dark Heart was mainly a shape shifter and nothing more, it still amazed her and still does. She always wondered what it would be like being able to shift into any animal she desired. It must be great. In her eyes, the way she thought of magic was a way of freedom, almost. Not being restrained to the ground by reality, it would almost be a freedom that America could never have, and it couldn't be bought. To do anything that she wanted…  
And then there were all of the things that could be bad. The fact that it was No Heart teaching her. He would probably try to show her magic that wouldn't be right. Then there was her family. They would disapprove of it all, most likely. In fact, she knew. And their opinion mattered most to her than no one, despite the difference No Heart claimed she had with the rest of her family. But then again… was their opinion really all that important?

She took a moment to look around at all of the Carebear faces within the soccer game and some that were at the picnic. She had spent her entire life with her family. It was horrible to even think that their opinion wasn't important. Gentle Heart knew inside that she was saying, 'yes, learn magic so it can save me from being a nobody,' but was afraid to listen to it. She knew that she probably would have said 'yes' if it was someone else showing her magic, even if it was Dark Heart instead of the lord of uncaring and evil that is No Heart. For a small second the ball came close to coming her way again before Good Luck caught it and began kicking it to the other team's goal. Moving back into her thoughts, she remembered another thing that No Heart had told her. This was a once in a lifetime offer. This would be her only chance of even getting a glimpse of magic, something that everyone in the world wanted to possess. Magic could even help her family if No Heart decided to turn against her. Then she could be the heroine for once. Gentle Heart exhaled, making up her mind. She would go to No Heart's castle the next morning… she would promise to herself that she would go and at least try.

The game had ended with Wish Bear's team winning the match, and everyone had retired to the picnic blanket. Playful Heart still wanted a rematch but wasn't given one despite his complaints. On account of being the losing team's captain, he was the one that passed out everyone's plate and was the last to get his own. Gentle Heart stood in line, surprisingly feeling better about herself that she decided to at least try the magic. That is, if No Heart was telling the truth which she was pretty sure of. Wish Bear stood in front of her in line with Gentle Heart behind her. "Good game, Gentle Heart!"

"Thanks," Gentle Heart answered, "Even though I didn't even do anything."

"At least you were there," Wish Bear said, and then suddenly perked, remembering something. "Oh yeah! Proud Heart and Love-A-Lot bear all want the girls to sit together for awhile. Don't know why, but she told me to tell every girl around me."

Gentle Heart grabbed a plate at the blanket edge. "Um… okay."

Wish Bear reached Playful Heart, who was smiling at her. The turquoise Carebear eyed him suspiciously as he pointed at all of the trays, bowels and plates. "What do you want?"

The bear took her plate with a grin. "I know you're up to something. I'll get it myself, thank you!"

Playful shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Wish Bear loaded her plate with fries that were still hot somehow, a piece of Birthday Bear's gigantic cake and a burger from Brave Heart. She began walking away before Playful Heart coughed. "You want any salt for your fries?"

"Oh, I almost forgot," Wish said, taking the salt shaker.

The cap fell off completely when she turned it upside down, having salt spill all over her fries. Playful grabbed his stomach, falling backwards and laughing uncontrollably. Gentle Heart smiled, trying not to laugh just as hard so Wish wouldn't get angry. Wish put a paw on her hip. "That's not funny!"

"You shouldn't have made me do the job of handing out of the food then!" He said, then burst into another fit of laughs.

Wish smiled, rolling her eyes and held her fries, cake and burger down as she dropped all of the excess salt on Playful Heart. He was laughing too hard to care when she walked away and Gentle Heart was next in line. The monkey cousin laughed one last time, wiping a tear from his eye. He must have found it very humorous. Seeing Gentle Heart, he finally stopped laughing. "What can I get you?"

"It's okay," Gentle Heart answered, "I owe you for rescuing me in the soccer game."

Playful smiled. "You don't have to. It's my job now, after all."

He handed her the plate back and then realized that there wasn't anyone else in line. He hopefully looked at her, tail swishing. "You wanna sit with me and Birthday? We're gonna have a burping contest!"

She wrinkled her nose. "I've been asked to sit with all the girls. There's something that Proud Heart and Love-A-Lot have to tell us, I think."

Playful slowly smiled. "You shouldn't have told me that. Now there's something better than a burping contest I could do!"

She knew what he meant and walked off. "Don't even think about it."

Gentle Heart looked around and then saw all of the female Carebears and cousins sitting in a giant group underneath a tree with white and pink blossoms. The first thing she noticed was all of the guys whispering about it and looking over curiously. She figured it wouldn't be too long until they decided to crash the 'party.' Especially once Playful Heart tells them of his plans. She walked over and joined the group, sitting down next to Treat Heart pig. She nudged Treat Heart. "Why are we here?"

The pig cousin shrugged. "Search me."

"It's girl talk," Cheer said, "Isn't it obvious?"

Gentle Heart heard an aggravated hiss and turned around to see Loyal Heart poking Proud Heart cat. Loyal Heart tagged along behind her as she walked back from putting away her plate, poking her repeatedly in the side. "Come on, why can't I hear?"

"Because, you clearly aren't a girl," Proud Heart answered before adding, "I hope."

He made a whining noise, flattening his ears. "But it's not fair! What's gonna be the difference of just _one_ guy tagging along?"

Proud Heart stopped, sighing. "The difference is that with us girls, nothing could go wrong. But with guys, disaster is waiting to happen. So hold ON!"

Loyal Heart flinched and drooped his tail that was once wagging, walking away with a sigh. Proud Heart rolled her eyes and then joined everyone else. "Sorry, got caught up."

Friend Bear looked at Proud Heart. "Can you make it quick? There's gonna be a soccer rematch."

Proud Heart flattened her ears. "Fine, fine… I just have a question."

Gentle Heart saw Proud Heart looked at Love-A-Lot Bear with a grin, and almost knew what she had planned. It seemed as though the two planned to be the match makers of Care-A lot. Everyone around her seemed to look a bit disappointed, thinking it would be gossip. Though there wasn't much gossip you could find in the Kingdom of Caring to begin with. Proud Heart took a seat on a log, leaning back as Love-A-lot joined her with a smile. "So… who here likes who?"

She didn't get the response that she hoped for. There were a few comments similar to something along the lines of 'I like everyone here.' Proud Heart slapped a paw to her forehead in disbelief. "Aww, come on! You can't be serious!"

"Why wouldn't we be?" asked a clueless Share Bear.

Love-A-Lot rephrased her question, "Which boy do you have a crush on?"

There wasn't a reply, just confused stares. Gentle Heart looked at the ground, almost embarrassed for them both. Maybe she was wrong in thinking about Carebears and cousins could actually get into a relationship like human couples do. Cozy Heart raised a flipper. "Um… wouldn't that be wrong?"

Love-A-Lot shook her head. "Of course not! We can have emotions, too. Like in all of those pretty romance movies where the guy and girl fall in love and share their first kiss in front of a sunset…"

There was a sigh. Apparently she wasn't the only one obsessed with romance movies. Proud Heart extracted her claws from a hand, which were clipped best at the time, and examined them. "So, someone say something. This is girl talk, we can say whatever we want. Who do you like?"

Despite their strong family connections and relationships, all of the females of the family looked at one another warily. Gentle Heart didn't say anything either, mainly because of the fact that she didn't really have a 'crush' on any Carebear or cousin boy. Plus, she figured that they either had similar feelings or they just were afraid of their crush finding out. This seemed to be annoying Proud Heart more. She sighed. "Come on! I wanna play Cupid!"

"I have an idea…" Love-A-Lot said perfectly fine, "If I was to say who I liked, would you guys say who you liked?"

Once again, the crowd exchanged glances. Then there were nods of agreement. "Okay," Wish Bear spoke, "But don't expect anything out of us… I don't think I like a guy."

Gentle Heart then thought of something. What if all of this started some chain of false romance somehow? Girl emotions could be provoked by the oddest things.

Love-A-Lot nodded. "Okay… but you HAVE to keep your promise! I can tell when you're lying."

"Go on…" Cheer Bear said. "We promised."

Love-A-lot sighed, closing her eyes. "I know, I know… Tender Heart."

There was a pause, and soon the entire group erupted into squeals. Gentle Heart covered her ears as she took notice that the guy Carebears only looked more intrigued now and were beginning to whisper amongst themselves and look over with mischievous smiles. Gentle let go of her ears as Carebears crowded around Love-A-Lot, asking for more details. Yep, it wouldn't be too long now until the guys would attempt to break up all of the fun. All of the attention was now on Love-A-Lot. It appeared that their opinions of romantic relationships within the Carebear family had now changed. When glancing back at the other group, she now only saw True Heart and Noble Heart talking and groaned and no one else. "Oh, no…"

_"Charge!"_

Brave Heart came dashing into the circle of girls from the denser woods, only to land flat on his face in front of everyone. Swift Heart stopped in mid-sentence to put her hands on her hips. She smiled. "That wasn't very funny… You'll pay for that!"

Friend Bear looked over to see a convenient puddle of mud not too far away and grinned. "To the mud!"  
"To the mud!" The girls echoed, closing in on Brave Heart like a pack of wolves to an injured deer.

The lion jumped to his feet only to be grabbed by enough paws to lift him into the air. "It was just a joke! Mercy!"

Still, he was being carried away. That is, until the other male Carebears and cousins also came from the woods and saw the situation. They dashed to Brave Heart's aid, Lotsa-Heart elephant getting a good hold of Brave Heart's tail with his trunk. He pulled, but the result was only being grabbed more roughly by the girls. Brave Heart looked behind him nervously, feeling the sensations of being stretched at his tail bone. "Lotsa-Heart… not a good idea!"

Gentle Heart remained a good distance away from this stunt, careful not to get trampled although smiling. This was a trip worthwhile. Just as she thought this, she heard a beeping noise come from her left. She looked over to see Noble Heart horse running to the picnic blanket and grabbing something. She saw his distressed expression as he walked to True Heart and said something. There was a splash as Brave Heart was finally thrown into the mud successfully and Noble Heart finally approached the cheering crowd. It seemed as though the boys also found the thought of Brave Heart getting dirty funny and helped the girls out. Noble Heart laughed at the sight of a muddy Brave Heart, but then held up a heart-shaped device, a hand-held caring meter.

"We've got a problem, Carebears," he announced, "It looks like a few caring missions have come in. We need volunteers."

Another set of beeps came from the caring meter once again, and he looked down with a worried expression. "Actually, never mind. It's about time we wrap-up the picnic… who knows how many more might show up."

There was a disappointed groan from the crowd. Everyone split into halves, with one half cleaning up the picnic and the other going on the caring missions just arriving. Gentle Heart decided to stay and clean up… after all, it had been proven that she didn't do very well on caring missions. She helped True Heart roll up the picnic blanket, noting how it seemed odd that Noble Heart wasn't by her side for a change. The lamb lifted the bundle and began walking to the cloud cars. Now that all of the noise of friends was gone and there was just the silence of cleaning, she was only left alone with her thoughts.

Morning dew hung on the soft blades of grass within her garden as Gentle Heart awoke from the sunlight hitting her closed eyes. She twitched, then softly rolled on to her side to face away from the window. Attempting to fall asleep didn't work, and she slowly sat over her bed, stretching with a yawn. A bird chirped outside of her window, and she made her way to the bathroom to take a shower. Having that task completed, she walked back into her kitchen with much more clear eyes and a clearer mind. Today didn't feel like a day to go to the Hall of Hearts. Instead, she did the normal procedures of making toast.

Gentle Heart yawned for the hundredth time that morning as she spread the butter across her toast with a knife lazily. She didn't get much sleep the night before, and woke up twice from unknown reasons during her sleep. She figured her mind was jumbled with too many thoughts, worries and things she had to do. She stopped buttering, turning to look at the analog clock on the counter top. It was nearing eight o' clock. Gentle Heart swallowed, remembering the promise she had made to herself during the soccer game. She would go to the castle belonging to No Heart before the caring missions usually began around ten. The lamb quickly ate her toast and glass of orange juice before heading outside. The rays of the sunshine were warm upon her light green wool that she would need to cut sometime soon, which was a job she went to Cheer Bear for.

Gentle Heart looked around her. The only signs of life were birds chirping and playing in the branches of the trees and butterflies flitting softly throughout the air. She closed her eyes, and concentrated, attempting to create a cloud car with her tummy symbol. It was hard with the odd feeling of nervousness dwelling within her gut, but managed a slightly smaller one. Still, it was okay to drive. She hopped in, being sure no one would see her leave and then lifted into the air, driving faster than she normally would into clear skies. A light purple bird fluttered to her rearview mirror, chirping a greeting before hopping off to hover next to her as long as it could.

Gentle Heart looked nervously toward dark storm clouds. Lightning flashed brightly within the clouds, and she tightened her grip on the steering wheel nervously, whispering to the bird as it finally flew away. "Wish me luck."


	3. Lessons and Birthdays

A/N: Sorry this took so long to upload. My computer is incredibly stupid… it deleted the file for no apparent reason.

**3. Lessons and Birthday Parties**

Gentle Heart soon approached the looming storm clouds. Thunder boomed from within it, making it seem as though her entire cloud car was rattling from the force of it. The lamb tightened her grip on the steering wheel, swallowing. She was beginning to regret coming here… but it was too late to go back. She had to at least try to trust No Heart despite all of the things she had heard of him. Her mind wandered to something that she had heard happened to Grumpy Bear. He once had to protect Care-A lot while the rest of the family was on caring missions. While they were all gone, No Heart showed up and tried to trample them both, the first try in the form of a ram and the second a yak. She stared ahead. A yak was a huge animal compared to a Carebear.

Still, she pressed forward in her cloud car. Soon, the storm clouds were so close it was as though it was a wall. Lightning streaked within the clouds, creating an illuminating flash and was soon followed by an enormous crash of thunder. She let go of the steering wheel momentarily to cover her ears. How could No Heart and Beastly stand something so loud? She reopened her eyes to see the nose of the cloud car moving into the clouds. She instantly placed her paws back unto the steering wheel so she wouldn't loose control. Soon, her cloud car was entirely swallowed into the clouds, including her. Gentle Heart felt her fur rise, there was so much static electricity within the clouds. As if to agree, lightning flashed dangerously close by. Gentle Heart swallowed nervously. Now she would have to go to the castle… the storm clouds were so thick she would get lost in them if she wasn't to continue heading straight forward. The lamb looked at her paws on the steering wheel, inhaling deeply. "Don't get nervous… you _can't_ get nervous right now. Be brave for once... you've gone far as it is."

Her words of self-encouragement seemed to have an affect, for she suddenly moved out of the threshold of clouds that parted the outside world from the castle. Cold air suddenly hit her, causing her shudder and grit her teeth. Once again she questioned herself how No Heart could stand such a place. She felt her fur stand up further on end, and swerved her cloud car to the left to avoid being hit by lightning. Heart pounding out of fear, she realized that even if she didn't want to now, she would have to land on the castle to not be struck by lightning. Gentle Heart looked up at the towering castle ahead of her and felt even more nervous than before. Just the appearance was enough to make anyone want to turn around. She had only been inside once when No Heart had kidnapped the cubs Hugs and Tugs. It was her job to stand by the entrance and make sure that Beastly didn't follow them inside. So she only had a glimpse of one room. Gentle Heart sized the castle. What was visible by eye were giant towers and spires, but she had been told that the castle was more like a glacier… the majority of the size was hidden beneath the clouds.

She steered the cloud car downward, eventually landing it on a stone space before an enormous set of doors. She parked, sitting in the cloud for a while, shivering and thinking to herself. She had promised to herself that she would go through and at least try this. But now she was having regrets, mainly out of fear. If No Heart truly had no intentions of harming her, than the shadows or Beastly may have other ideas. She finally hopped out of the cloud car. She needed to prove to herself she can at least do one thing similar to bravery.

The lamb walked to the large set of doors that had to be ten times her own height. She seemed very out of place as she laid a paw on the designs of the door frame. Shadows and Gargoyles twisted on the frame with either emotionless or hating expression. Gentle Heart inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. This was a lot harder than she thought it would be. Just as she was reaching for the door, there was a groan as it seemed to open on its own. She paused, her paw in the air and took an uncertain step backwards. It was like in all of those horror movies were a draft opens the door and the main character walks inside. Only the door would shut and lock right behind them. Gentle Heart waited a moment, reality coming to her. It was very windy around the castle and a draft could have opened it. Then her prediction was proved wrong as a familiar creature poked its head around the door. "Carebear!"

Gentle Heart gained some distance between her and Beastly. She attempted to put on a courageous expression. "I'm here to see No Heart, Beastly."

The brown furry creature opened the doors fully, putting his hands on his hips. "I'm not stupid! What kind of Carebear wants to see him?"

Gentle Heart looked at the ground. "I do…"

"Nuh-uh! I'm not falling for your little head games," Beastly said and then it looked as thought a light bulb clicked in his eyes. "On the other hand… No Heart would be really proud if _I_ caught a Carebear all on my own and brought it to the castle…"  
She looked up to see him walking forward, hands outstretched as if he planned to jump and grab her any second. Gentle Heart inhaled deeply, concentrating all of her emotions to her tummy symbol to make a glow to ready a stare. That stopped Beastly in his tracks, and he stuck out his tongue in disgust. "Get that thing away from me! I don't want your nasty 'caring' emotions!"

"Then take me to No Heart," Gentle Heart commanded in the bravest voice she could muster.

Still, despite her hopes, this still didn't stop Beastly. He snickered. "What makes you think I'll do what you say? You're just Gentle Heart lamb of the Carebear family, the most scaredy-cat of them all! I'm not falling for your act."

_Just_ Gentle Heart lamb? Her emotions all seemed to fall down, causing the prepared stare to also disappear. Did everyone really think of her as that? She stared down to the stones at her feet, a cold gust of air blowing past as Beastly cracked up into a fit of laughter. "Oh, I love being so bad… or hate it. Because bad is good to us…"

"Silence, Beastly."

The two both looked up in surprise to see No Heart. Gentle Heart blinked, looking around her. How did he just appear out of nowhere all of the sudden? Beastly looked at the Carebear cousins, grinned, and then ran up to No Heart, tugging on his purple robes anxiously. "I got one, boss! I brought a Carebear for you?"

"Oh?" No Heart asked, sounding surprisingly gentle before his eyes glowed in anger. "I am aware you are lying, idiot! Do you take me for stupid?"

Gentle Heart flattened her ears against her head, closing her eyes. This must be the famous anger she had heard so much about. She listened as Beastly stammered up an excuse. "Well… I was g-gonna bring her t-to you right when I s-s-saw her…"

"I believe she requested something," No Heart returned to his gentle tone, foreshadowing another fit of yelling. Beastly slowly shook his head 'no,' smiling weakly. No Heart suddenly grabbed Beastly by the scruff of his neck, holding him to eye-level for emphasis. "_You_ do not make the decisions in _my_ castle. If someone must see me, _you_ take them to _me_. Do you understand, or must I repeat myself… though I do dislike wasting valuable magic on insolent creatures such as you?"

Beastly cowered under the annoyed gaze of No Heart. "I get it…"

"Then let us be," No Heart said, eyes returning to normal and dropping him. Though Beastly could have made a graceful landing, he still fell flat on his face as No Heart waved his hand, "Make yourself useful and go elsewhere."

Beastly saluted, suddenly assuming he was on his boss's good side. "Sure thing, No Heart!" With that said, he readied himself to run down the stairs, only to trip over his own feet and fall forward.

Gentle Heart gasped as Beastly tumbled down the stairs clumsily with an occasional 'ouch' when he hit his head. She looked up at No Heart, only to see him roll his eyes. "You mustn't waste your worry on him. He will be back… much bothersome than before."

Gentle Heart slowly looked up to meet his gaze. She suddenly seemed to notice their size difference, remaining silent. She could feel her own fear flicker through her eyes as No Heart raised an eyebrow. "You still fear me."

She looked back to the ground instantly. Of course she would fear him… she wasn't coming here to rid herself of the fear of someone who had been attempting to destroy she and her family for years. She was here to learn magic, and magic only, wasn't she? No Heart walked to the doors, his back to her as he spoke. "You must lose this fear if you wish to learn what I have promised you. That is, if you still desire to do so."

She looked up to see him holding one of the massive doors open. She looked at him, somewhat confused. Why was he letting her make her own choice instead of forcing her to do something like all of the stories she had heard would predict? Once again, he seemed to read to read her mind. "I am letting you make your own choice. That way, you can either realize your mistakes… or choices that lead to an opposite path."

Gentle Heart tried to think as clearly as she could. She had already made up her mind before… but it wouldn't hurt to think it over just one more time. No Heart patiently waited as she ran over all of the thoughts that she had been thinking for the past two days. In her head, Gentle Heart could almost feel herself nodding. She can't quit now. She just _had_ to after going this far, it was her turn to do something brave in the family. She walked forward and into the door, barely saying above a whisper 'thanks' to No Heart for holding the door open. It was almost as if she could feel him smile as he followed. Gentle Heart looked around the massive room she was in. It was blank, not a single feature in the room aside from another set of doors on the other side. Floating on either side by gargoyle statues were shadows, their red eyes following her as she walked forward. No Heart waved his hand, causing them to float away as he continued to walk. "It would take ages for you to reach where I plan to take you. Stop for a moment."

Gentle Heart found herself feeling relieved that she didn't have to pass by the shadows. For some odd reason, she was always more afraid of them than the others in her family though she didn't have a good reason or explanation to be. She forced herself to look away from the shadows lingering beside the doorway and statues to turn and jump. Where No Heart had just stood was a rather large, purple wolf with red eyes. "We must not waste any time. Hold on tightly."

With that said and before Gentle Heart could even respond, No Heart jumped forward and ducked down, scooping her unto his back with his neck. With a gasp, Gentle Heart instinctively grabbed his fur to keep from falling off, not having the time to even expect that. The lamb blinked. It was apparent he didn't plan to hurt her… but what now? To answer her question, No Heart looked back at her. "As I have said before, hold on. You wouldn't want to fall off."

Gentle Heart nodded slowly, tightening her grip on his fur. At the moment, it felt like she was loaded with even more thoughts than before, them mainly being on wondering why No Heart was being so nice to someone he has hated for so long. No Heart suddenly lunged forward, catching her off guard. She managed to stay on her shoulders, and repositioned herself so she wouldn't fall. The door on the other room side had opened on its own, and they had run through it very quickly. It was hard getting a glimpse around for No Heart passed by everything so quickly. Gentle Heart cleared her throat, finally ready to say the first complete sentence around him. "Why are you being so nice?"

No Heart continued to look forward, bounding down hallways and corridors she didn't even take note of. "Do you wish for me not to be?"

"No!" She answered quickly, then cleared her throat, "But… you've hated me for so long. Why are you being nice now?"  
They turned a sharp corner, almost causing her to fall off before she caught herself. No Heart then answered her question, "Not all things are realized at once. Did you ever wonder why of all Carebears, you were the least affected by me?"

"You mean you were trying destroy everyone in family… except me?" Gentle Heart slowly asked, now able to find an explanation as to why she always was living on the safe side of things when compared to other family members meeting No Heart.

"Exactly," He replied, "You're far too unique for me to cause any harm to."

Gentle Heart stayed silent. She knew she shouldn't be… but she found herself taking that as a compliment. She wasn't supposed to be anymore special or unique from the rest of her family. But then again… everyone else had always been much more special than she. It could be a good thing that she was the one different from the others for a change, right? She looked around at the many rooms and hallways they passed by as No Heart ran forward as if running on a supply on non-ending energy. It seemed as though his castle truly was a maze. She could get hopelessly lost in it if she ever was to go looking through it alone. Though she didn't get a very full look at anything on account of the speed they were moving at, she also noted that it wasn't as horrible as some others made the castle out to be. She was expecting cobwebs everywhere and giant holes missing in stone walls, but it was actually fairly clean despite the fact that it would take an eternity to clean. That must be one of the other jobs that Beastly had to do. Another question that she had been thinking of constantly finally popped into her mouth before she caught herself from saying it. "Why are you teaching me magic?"

No Heart slowed to walk to climb up a steep stairwell as to not fall backwards and crush her. "Because you are the only one capable of learning and understanding it, I believe."

She drooped her ears, not liking having to constantly ask him questions. But she just wanted to get them off of her mind. "Well, you told me that… but what made you actually want to teach someone to begin with?"  
No Heart finally passed the stairs and began to walk quickly, soon breaking into another run as he spoke in a low tone. "Reasons that I must not tell you… but I assure it, they have no relation to that of harming you, your family or anything involving harm."

She nodded, but still found that oddly suspicious. She decided to be quiet as No Heart continued to run forward. A moment later, he abruptly stopped, nearly sending her flying off of his back if she didn't have a hold on his fur. No Heart titled his shoulders so she would slide off gently, and returned to his original form in a veil of heavy purple fog. Gentle Heart looked around her, not fully aware of where she was. She stood at the end of a long corridor with stone walls with a long, blood red carpet leading from one side to another where another set of stairs appeared. "Where are we?"  
"Outside of where you shall perform much of her magic," No Heart replied, and she turned around to see another set of doors. She shivered though she wasn't entirely cold as No Heart once again opened the door for her. "After you."

Gentle Heart walked past him, eyes on the ground before she looked up when there was a brilliant flash, soon followed by a roll of thunder. She jumped though it wasn't as loud as the ones compared to outside. She heard the door behind her creak to a shut and No Heart walk to her side as she surveyed the room in awe. It was enormous! It had to be in one of the towers or spires, for the room was circular. The ceiling wasn't visible, disappearing in shadow, nor could the bottom be seen. At least one third of the room was a stone floor, transforming into a thin set of steps that held up a balcony above bottom. Lightning flashed from the bottom shadows, even their light not strong enough to illuminate it, and she could only assume that it led to the clouds that supported the castle. Sitting on the balcony was a cauldron along with a table. On the stone floor she stood on was another longer table with several things sitting upon it and a door led elsewhere. She heard the shuffle of No Heart's robes as he walked forward, a smirk showing in his eyes. "Impressive?"

"Yes…" she bleated softly.

No Heart turned to face her. "Since you shall be spending much time in here, I might as well tell you what everything is."

She just nodded, very curious as to what everything was. No Heart pointed a clawed finger at the pit. "As you might have assumed, the pit leads to the very bottom of the castle and into the clouds. I advise not getting too close… the lightning will not hurt you, but it wouldn't be a very enjoyable fall. When you need ingredients for what I am to teach you, you shall find them within that closet," he made a gesture to the door next to the longest table, "And I have everything you would need for that. Come."

He walked forward to the thin, very fragile-appearing stairs. Gentle Heart swallowed, following him. It looked as though they could break, causing both it and the balcony to fall. Still, she closed her eyes and climbed up the stairs hurriedly until she touched even stone. On the balcony, she opened her eyes. She was farther out from the rest of the room than she thought, and looked nervously down. She wouldn't doubt that it was possible the balcony could easily break off from the stairs. No Heart saw her looking nervously at the wiry stairs. "The balcony will not break from the stairs. It's supported by magic."

She breathed a sigh of relief, and watched as No Heart lifted a hand. A book from the longer table floated into his grasp, and he opened it with a bored expression. "We must not waste any time."

Gentle Heart watched in silence as he flipped through the pages casually, finally finding what he had searched for. He slammed it down on the table much harder than necessary. "Shall we begin?"

Gentle Heart flinched from the loud noise, and then nodded. No Heart once again raised his hand, and instead of the book rising from the table like last time, Gentle Heart felt her feet leave the stone balcony. The lamb shuddered, immediately thinking that he was going to move her over the side of the balcony and let her fall. She instinctively shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the fall. There wasn't anything she could do… one Carebear stare alone just wouldn't be enough to even make him flinch. So she was very surprised when she felt herself sit on something only a moment later. She opened her eyes to see that she wasn't falling into the pit, but rather simply sitting on the table. She blushed… all No Heart was doing was letting her have a better view of the book. She found herself feeling very embarrassed by this somehow and only looked at the book, not paying attention to what was fully on the page.

"As I have said before," No Heart reminded her, "The thought of causing injury to you will not even cross my mind. You are my 'apprentice,' so to say, therefore it is your job to pay attention to what I tell you. And for that to be possible, it is my duty to make sure nothing keeps you from doing so. And that does involve ensuring you are not hurt by anyone or anything."

Gentle Heart raised her eyebrows. In other words, No Heart was basically protecting her from being hurt. She cleared her throat lightly. "So if I was to get hurt by someone-"

"It would not happen," No Heart interrupted, "If by some very odd reason it was to, the one who caused it will sincerely regret doing so. Having that clarified, you shall learn magic like you agreed to."

"Alright," Gentle Heart answered, feeling as though it was both a burden and somewhat of a fortune that No Heart was actually protecting her. But now, she was too curious of learning magic to think of anything else. What would she learn?

"I suppose you expect for me to teach you the magic you might have seen me perform or the images you see on that… electric box with wires thing," he began.

"A television?" Gentle Heart bleated.

"Whatever," No Heart growled, "I couldn't care less about your accursed technology. Anyway… you are going to learn things the right way. To perform magic, you first must have an understanding and a good grasp of it. Then, when that is complete, shall it be time for you to perform it."

He leaned against the table, folding his arms across his chest. "Might you have any idea how long magic has existed?"

Gentle Heart took a moment to think. She would say King Arthur, knowing that Merlin was a sorcerer, but that was just a character in a book. Therefore, she said her next guess. "When the Salem With Trials began?"

No Heart shuddered. "Heavens, no. All of that was merely false accusing. As for the answer, magic has existed as long as it could be recorded. Of course, nearly every century it was thought to be an entirely different thing as it changed."

"So… are you saying magic used to be different a long time ago than now?" Gentle Heart questioned.

"Very," No Heart answered, "Now, it has near completely died out. You should feel very special knowing what I am going to show you."

"I am," she answered softly.

"Good," No Heart responded, "Being a Carebear and having to know and understand emotions fairly well, you should be fine with magic, for it revolves all around emotion."

"Really?" Gentle Heart asked. How could No Heart practice magic if he could only feel anger, hate and evil?

No Heart nodded. "Exactly. You must be able to control them."

"Why does magic revolve around emotion?" Gentle Heart asked curiously.

The sorcerer merely shrugged. "Even I do not know the answer to that question. There is more about much that is less understood than actually known. For those who do fully know the meaning behind it, words cannot describe it, nor could it be put into ancient books such as these."

Gentle Heart looked at the thick book that was at her side. She found herself shudder though she had no reason to do so. Just at that moment, there was a loud bang as the doors leading into the room were thrown open. Both Gentle Heart and No Heart turned to see Beastly run into the room. He skidded to a halt in front of No Heart as the sorcerer raised an eyebrow. "What is it you want?"

Beastly finally caught his breath and explained. "Well, I went to Care-A lot just to see what BAD things I could do, because I know you like BAD thing. Or, you hate them because bad is good to us and-"

"I get the point!" No Heart snapped, "You have explained this to me much too many times. Now, what happened in Care-A lot that motivated you to come and bother me?"

Gentle Heart couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed that Beastly was snooping around in Care-A lot. She probably would have been angered if it wasn't in her nature to always make things less dramatic than needed. Beastly cleared his throat, looking up at No Heart, nervousness showing in his eyes. "The Carebears were saying how they've been looking for her," Beastly pointed at Gentle Heart, "And they've looked both in all of the Kingdom of Caring."  
No Heart growled, waving his hand to dismiss him. He turned to face Gentle Heart, eyes slightly glowing with frustration. "You must leave. They cannot suspect us of anything."

Just hearing that made Gentle Heart heavy with guilt. It suddenly occurred to her just how much she was going behind her family's back. But… he wasn't causing any harm for them. Then it would be okay, wouldn't it? No Heart simply instructed her to read as much as he could to save more 'lessons' from being interrupted by her family. Gentle Heart, having the strength she needed after much time, finally concentrated to create a cloud car. It hovered next to the balcony.

No Heart handed her the book. "Be careful. This book is very old and fragile."

She swayed under its weight before regaining her posture, cheeks slightly pink with embarrassment. She carefully placed it in the passengers seat and then hopped to the drivers seat. No Heart waved his hand, and the shutters that blocked a window on the other side of the room swung open. Seeing the little amount of light spill into the room, Gentle Heart thought of the light at the end of the tunnel. It was hard trying to imagine living in a castle so dark. As she buckled up, No Heart loomed above her, standing on the balcony. "Come back whenever you feel so."

Gentle Heart nodded, and began to steer the cloud car away. She didn't look behind her as she drove hurriedly to the windows, flying over the lightning pit. She sighed once outside and into the colder air. She really hoped that something bad in Care-A lot wasn't waiting for her.

"Gentle! Where have you been all morning?"

Grams Bear walked to her cloud car as she arrived in Care-A lot. Gentle Heart thought quickly and slammed the upper passengers seat unto the book before she could see it. The eldest of the Carebears leaned on the cloud car as the lamb cousin stammered up an excuse. "I was… on earth. Relaxing."

"Ah," Grams nodded, "That always calms you down. Well, I believe that a few people are looking for you in the Forest of Feelings."

"Okay," Gentle Heart said, "Then I better hurry… thanks for telling me."

Grams waved as Gentle Heart slammed her foot down on the accelerator. She needed to be very fast. She arrived at her home only a moment later, ran inside and placed the book on an armchair as gently as possible. Feeling very light-headed for some strange reason, the lamb bolted for the door, through it open and then ran right into something pink. She fell backwards with a cry, not expecting to hit anything and then looked up. Lotsa-Heart elephant reached his trunk down to her. "Are you alright?"

She took it, and he pulled her back on to her feet. Gentle Heart placed a paw on her head, vision spinning. "Yeah… it was my fault."

The elephant cousin cocked his head to the side. "Where've you been all morning? Everyone is looking for you. We need all the help we can get."

"I was on earth," she replied quickly, "What do you need help with?"

"True Heart's birthday. It's in three more days… I think. Um… wow. I hope I didn't just forget," Lotsa-Heart said to himself.

Gentle Heart once again felt a pang of guilt. She had forgotten all about the birthday. She didn't even have a present to give to True Heart. She sighed unintentionally. "Sure, I'll help. Why is it you need me specifically?"

"Everyone who probably isn't gonna have a caring mission today are gonna do a lot of work," Lotsa-Heart said, beginning to walk with her down the path from her house, "The party is gonna be by the lake. So True Heart can't know about it."

"Right," Gentle Heart said, somewhat feeling unwanted by the caring mission comment.

The two walked through the Forest of Feelings slowly, soon arriving at the lake. It's crystal blue water reflected the sun brightly, and it seemed to be the perfect spot for a party. Gentle Heart looked around at what had been done so far. String had been hung from tree to tree with multi-colored lights hanging from them. A few bears and cousins were setting up a large pink tent to put tables underneath in case of rain. Noble Heart walked over to the two. "Hi, guys. Where have you been, Gentle?"

"Earth," she answered, "What can I do?"

"Well, out here we're almost done for the day. It's too early to be setting up the bonfire pit and tables. Lotsa-Heart, you can help Treat Heart set up the tent. Gentle Heart, you can come with me."

"Sure," Gentle Heart said, somewhat expecting for him to say something related to her learning magic. Instead, he walked to the lake side and on the light purple rocks on one side to Cozy Heart's home. Gentle followed obediently.

"You can help some of the others in the kitchens," Noble Heart said, "You know how the Carebear family eats anything that fits in their mouth, so we'll need a lot of food."

Noble Heart walked inside, not knocking, for there were already many people in Cozy Heart's kitchen, including the penguin herself. They went inside, several family members greeting them. Looking around, Gentle Heart was that all who was there was Cozy Heart, Loyal Heart, Harmony Bear, Secret Bear and the cubs. Cozy Heart waved a flipper. "Use anything you can find in the kitchen. There's a list over there of all that has and is being made."

"Okay," Gentle Heart said.

She went to the list with a lead pencil laying next to it. Scanning down, she thought of what was left to make, wrote it down and set to work. She found a bowl to mix everything in and set all of her utensils down next to Noble Heart. The lamb took an egg, cracked it, and emptied the contents into the bowl. "What are you making, No Heart?"

"No Heart?" The horse cousin asked.

She shook her head. She was thinking too hard to be talking now. "Noble Heart, I mean," she replied, "Sorry. I don't know what was going through my head…"  
The horse laughed. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, it's called 'five cup salad.' True Heart's favorite."  
"I didn't know that," Gentle Heart said.

Noble Heart nodded, sighing. "Yep. You'd know, too, if you spent as much time with her that I do. Isn't it odd how on birthdays you always think of the priceless moments you have with someone?"

Gentle Heart nodded, beginning to pour flour into her bowl. _Ask him now_, she thought, _just do it casually_. She cleared her throat, eyes not leaving her ingredients. "Not to be rude… but I've been wondering. Are you and True Heart like a… couple?"

"Couple?" Noble Heart asked, raising an eyebrow with a smile.

She blushed, mixing the contents in the bowl. "Sorry. That was really rude of me."

"Of course it wasn't," Noble Heart answered, carefully slicing an apple and being sure that he wouldn't be jostled by anyone. "Do you think we are?"

The lamb didn't respond at first, acting very caught up in the mixture she was making, trying to find an answer. It was a bad thing to ask to begin with. "I… don't… know."

Noble Heart opened his mouth to respond, but then stopped. "Ouch!"

"What is it?" Gentle Heart asked, and looked over to see that Noble Heart, despite his careful cutting, managed to cut his thumb ever so slightly for a small drop of blood to land on the chopping block. Just that small drop was enough to make her stomach churn immensely, but she managed to keep herself from getting sick. Instead, she dashed away to get a wet paper towel. With that task completed, she wrapped Noble Heart's paw in it. "Are you alright?"

The horse cousin nodded, smiling slightly. "Yes. I should have been concentrating more. Well, I suppose I should go to Take Care Bear to get some antibiotics and a band-aid."

Gentle Heart watched him leave, and breathed a sigh of relief. That was a close call.

Gentle Heart's home was like many others within the Forest of Feelings. It had only one floor plus an attic, one fairly large bedroom, a bathroom, kitchen, leaving room and dining room. Gentle Heart's room had very light, sky blue walls with a white ceiling. At night, they looked like different shades of gray, but this night was different. Gentle Heart sat in her bed, propped up against her pillow with a powerful lamp to her side and the heavy book of magic in her lap. She rubbed her tired eyes. Though there wasn't much heavy physical activity within it, the day had been very tiring. Apparently True Heart was having her birthday party the day after tomorrow. She had dedicated nearly the entire next day to volunteering to set up the party. After all, she hardly ever went on caring missions lately. She took a sip of water in a glass she always had ready at her side, and then set it back down on the table. She had to stay awake. Though she really was going behind her family's back, she still promised to No Heart she would read what he told her to. She looked at the blank dark brown color of the book with no title at all, then carefully opened it.

Almost as soon as she started reading, she could feel a headache coming on. The writing was hand-written, small, and to make things even more difficult, in cursive and slanted. She rubbed her tired eyes. _Don't quit_, she told herself strongly, _You can't break a promise._

Twenty minutes later, Gentle Heart still sat propped against the pillow. However, her eyes were closed and her chest rose up and down in rhythm that only can be achieved throughout sleep. The book of magic rested in her lap, also rising and falling in time with her own breathing.


	4. Happy Birthday

**4. Happy Birthday**

"More to the left, please. Okay, that's perfect."

Gentle Heart nervously sat upon Brave Heart's shoulders as she had the task of hanging up a banner from one tree to another. However, the first step was to get on one of the trees. This would normally have been Lotsa-Heart's job if he wasn't already working on turning the lights on strings that hung from tree to tree. Plus, Gentle Heart was the second lightest cousin and Carebear… Swift Heart was on a caring mission. She pulled herself unto the light pink tree, leaving the support of Brave Heart's shoulders. The lion looked up at her. "You got it?"

She nodded, glued to the tree by her own fear of falling back down. Brave Heart then handed her the other side of the banner than hung from the other tree but wasn't connected to the one she was on. The lion looked up at her uncertainly, wondering if he really should give her the hammer and nails to keep the banner in place. She breathed in shakily, reaching to Brave Heart with her free paw. "Okay. I'm ready…"

"If you think so," Brave Heart shrugged and handed her first nail.

Soon, the banner hung proudly from one tree to another. Brave Heart helped her down from the tree and they both stepped back to admire their work. In only a few hours the party would begin. There was a gigantic table of food, games, music (the majority of them provided by Harmony Bear and Treat Heart), a bonfire pit and tons of presents all piled beneath a particularly large tree. Sitting at the large lake's edge was what looked to be a small power boat made of clouds, a boat that was the result of Bright Heart's tinkering with both cloud cars and boats. Gentle Heart put her paws on her hips, feeling very proud of herself. She managed to do a lot of work on getting the party started the day after last, yesterday where she volunteered the entire day, and now she had done a good amount of work. Plus, she managed to finish two very long chapters in the magic book. So far, she had a fairly good understanding of the three main types of magic; dark, light and neutral. But now, she had other things to concentrate on.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Friend Bear said, who was gazing around at the Forest of Feelings. "Everyone knows that True Heart likes tulips. Do any grow in the Forest of Feelings?"

"Sure they do," Brave Heart proudly responded. "All flowers grow in our forest! In fact, there's a patch of them close by."

Gentle Heart lightly cleared her throat, and it was enough to get their attention. "I can go get them… I memorized how to get there from any place in the forest. True Heart will like them, wouldn't she?"

"You bet!" Brave Heart answered, slapping a paw against her back much more roughly than he intended, "You've been doing a lot today. How about after the flowers you take a break?"

She nodded and produced a basket with her tummy symbol, heading into the Forest of Feelings. She closed her eyes as she walked, feeling the sun's warm rays against her pale green wool. The sky was nearly cloudless, and was the perfect day for a birthday party. The noise of her family talking and setting up the last stages of the party were soon replaced by chirping birds and the hum of insect and hummingbird wings. She sighed, enjoying the soft noises of the Forest of Feelings. Honestly, she couldn't understand how the Carebears managed to live in Care-A lot. It was always so quiet and it was looking at the same thing over and over again. But here, not a single feature could be expected. She passed by a particularly large purple and green pine tree, noting that it only meant her destination wasn't far away. In fact, when she cupped her paw over her eyes she could almost see the field beyond a line of trees far away. In only a moment, she reached the final line of trees and was greeted by a bright field.

Now in the open, a light breeze ruffled her wool. Gentle Heart closed her eye and sighed warmly. This had to be one of the most comforting moments of the week…. perhaps even month. Everything was too hectic lately, with her having to make so many decisions and do the right things along with working for a birthday party. But now she couldn't help but feel she made all of the right choices. Gentle Heart walked forward, eyes scanning the brightly colored field of pink, yellow, orange and blue. Finally, she saw a very small patch of white and carefully walked through the field, sure of not stepping on any flowers or harming any plants. She finally reached the white patch where individual tulips swayed in the breezes that passed by. Gentle Heart dropped down onto her knees, making sure not to harm the plants, and then began to pick the tulips as gently as she could. She really didn't like disturbing flowers too much, but this was for a good reason.

With the task completed, she stood up just as carefully and began walking back to the party area... she needed water for the flowers fairly quick. A gentle hum reached her earss, and she blocked the sun from her eyes with a paw, looking up into the sky to see a cloud car. Whoever was in the drivers seat directed the cloud car in her direction, and soon it hovered just above the surface of the wave of flowers. Playful Heart leaned over. "Hi!"

"Hi, Playful," Gentle Heart softly greeted.

The monkey cousin looked at her basket. "What're those for? The party?"

She nodded, and Playful Heart accidentally elbowed the steering wheel, causing the car to dip down before he regained control of it. He grinned. "Need a ride?"

Gentle Heart looked to the line of trees. "It's not that far away."

Flicking his tail, Playful Heart followed her gaze. "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all," she answered much more softly than she had before.

Playful Heart nodded and leapt from the cloud car, managing not to land on any flowers. The car vaporized behind him as the two began walking through the field. A blue bird flitted overhead, chirping as it went. The two both looked after it for a moment before Gentle Heart resumed her stare at the ground. It was a fairly silent walk to the party area until Noble Heart saw the two just arriving, his left paw slightly bandaged on the thumb from his cut two days ago. "Good to see that you made it, Playful. I heard you'd be arriving with those, Gentle Heart."  
"What can I do?" Playful Heart asked.

Noble Heart shook his head. "Actually, we're going to start very soon. The others should be arriving, also. When they're here, I'll go get True Heart."

Gentle Heart was soon handed a vase filled with lake water, the freshest water one could find in all the Kingdom of Caring, and placed the vase with the tulips on the long table containing many plates and altogether pounds of True Heart's favorite foods. She stepped backwards to look at the entire party once again. She inhaled deeply. Her birthday was only in another month or so… would hers be this big and special?

* * *

"Where are we?"

"Just keep you're eyes closed," Noble Heart said, leading True Heart by the paw over to the birthday party, "We're almost here."

The white bear smiled, having a good idea of what the meaning of closing her eyes was, but not a very well grasp of where she was. Noble Heart got behind her and put his paws around her wrists. "Ready?"

The entire Carebear family stood assembled in front of them, not even breathing and equipped with party hats, horns and confetti. Everyone tensed as Noble Heart winked at the crowd, signaling them to prepare. "Open!"  
It was amazing how much noise could come from such small creatures as everyone screamed 'happy birthday,' along with Lotsa-Heart trumpeting as loud as possible, which was loud enough as it was. True Heart grinned, even she herself not expecting this much of a party. She was nudged over to the crowd by Noble Heart as Gentle Heart adjusted her party hat. The string that she had to put her around her head kept getting tangled in her wool, and after some time, it was growing both painful and a bit frustrating. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Playful Heart walk over with a grin. "Need any help?"

"No thanks," she blushed.

Playful Heart laughed. "Something tells me you aren't telling the truth. Here, let me…"

With that said, he carefully untangled the string and let her hold on to it. She finally heard music playing over all of the noise, and recognized it as the 70's band 'Cheap Trick' and the song 'Clock Strikes Ten.' Everyone seemed to scatter, still somewhat of a crowd talking to True Heart. As she finally took the hat off altogether, Playful Heart grabbed his paw, causing her to drop the hat. "Let's go get something to eat, I'm starving!"

"But lunch just passed," she stated.

Playful Heart shrugged, leading her to the table. He grabbed a plate piling it high with anything that contained truckloads of sugar. Gentle Heart simply went to the incredibly large punch bowl and filled two cups; one for her and the other for Playful Heart. The two soon had a seat on fold-out chairs to the side. Gentle Heart watched as True Heart hugged Noble Heart in thanks and along with anyone within a five meter radius. A smile tugged up on her lips as Playful Heart flicked his tail. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she answered. "Just thinking about the family."

Playful Heart chugged down his cup of punch within seconds and wiped his mouth off with his arm. "Remember Good Luck Bear's birthday party? I think it was the one before last."

She smiled. "Yes."

What had started out to be a simple game of tag somehow managed to form into a complete all-out brawl of a food fight. No one was spared, everyone being hit by some sort of food. A lot of people left a bit early to take showers and come back, but it still had to be one of the best memories the family member could have despite the result of the food fight. Gentle Heart vividly remembered having nachos and cheese sauce nearly stuck in her wool. It took days to get it all out, and it was a good thing she waited, because Take Care suggested that cutting her wool would be the easiest way to get it all out. Then she suddenly seemed to remember Playful Heart having ice cream smeared completely into his fur so hard he smelled like strawberries for a week after. She looked up to see Wish Bear and Champ walking over. The turquoise bear rose an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're just going to sit all there all day."

"Nope!" Playful Heart said, and then looked over at Gentle Heart, "That is if you wanna do something different."

She stood. "It's okay."

The two followed Wish and Champ, who soon went into another crowd of Care Bears and cousins. Gentle Heart tagged along, somehow feeling out of place and everyone talked about how long it took to get the party ready and related things. Staring at the ground, she didn't pay any attention to what the others were saying. Truthfully, all she wanted to do right now was just go back to her own house and read more about magic. It was the only pass-time she had lately. Plus, it was something intriguing.

The day gradually morphed into nighttime. The forest was alive with hums of night insects and the occasional chirp of a nocturnal bird or two. Music still played over the stereo, which had gone from Cheap Trick, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and now Lynyrd Skynyrd played softly. Gentle Heart was sitting off to the side with Proud Heart when she heard Noble Heart's voice over the collected voices of the family. True Heart was finally opening her many presents and cutting the cake. She and Proud Heart rose up and joined the others, sitting down into the soft grass before True Heart and the many stacks of presents. Playful Heart bounced over, sitting down next to her and balancing a plate on his tail. He grin, offering the plate to her. "Cupcake?"

"No thanks," she responded, "She's gonna cut the cake soon."

Playful Heart shrugged, wolfing it down instead. "I can't wait until there are gonna be rides on the jet skis. Are you going to try it?"

She looked over at the cloud jet ski which floated gently in the enormous lake. She could already imagine herself getting on it and falling backwards right away. She winced. "I don't think so."

"Aw, why not?" Playful Heart prodded, "It'll be fun!"

She was going to answer when Noble Heart handed her the first present. Usually presents weren't signed so there wouldn't be any hard feelings if something she said was offending to the others. True Heart unwrapped the purple paper agonizingly slowly, careful not to harm the paper. Gentle Heart drew her knees up to her chest, watching silently.

"First I have to say thanks for all of your work just to make my birthday fun," True Heart said as she unwrapped the present, trying not to be distracted. "I think I must be luckiest bear to be a part of this family."

There was an 'aw' from the family all at once as though they were all deeply flattered. She finally had gotten all of the wrapping paper off and then opened the box that it was covering. She pulled out what looked to be a simple chain necklace with her tummy symbol on the front. "Oh my stars… it's beautiful. Thank you."  
Noble Heart helped her put it on as she continued to unwrap the many presents. There were all sorts of presents, all which she seemed to appreciate equally. There were all sorts of simple jewelry, handmade crafts, books (including a jokes book which _had_ to be from Playful Heart), and many more things. By the time she was finished, she was covered head to toe in all of her presents that could be worn. The founder of Care-A lot stood, smiling. "Thank you all so much. This is the best birthday one could ever get from their family."

This single sentence seemed to trigger the motive in everyone's head to nearly tackle her to the hugs in giant bear hugs, no pun intended. Swift Heart was the first to reach the white bear, unsurprisingly, and almost managed to knock True Heart off of her feet. The rabbit poked her cheek. "You're such a drama queen!"

Then the rabbit quirked an ear, seeing a massive wave of Carebears and cousins rising over them both. She luckily jumped out of the way, unlike True Heart, as the wave came crashing upon her. Gentle Heart managed to become stuck between Brave Heart and Grumpy Bear. When everyone got back to their feet, the lamb suddenly seemed to be much more fond of life knowing she just came out of the tidal wave of Carebears without being crushed to death by her family. She looked up to see Playful Heart offering her a paw, grinning. "You got on the bottom?"

She nodded, and took his paw. Pulled up, a paper plate was shoved into her hand and soon she was standing in line for the cutting of the cake. In minutes, the entire family had a piece. Now, the real fun was beginning. Bright Heart climbed into the cloud boat. It rocked gently with the new weight change, and a crowd of Carebears waited anxiously, Gentle Heart one of them. Bright Heart strapped himself in then flipped a few switches. The raccoon set a key with a heart-tip into a keyhole and turned. It hummed to life, for it ran off of caring crystals and didn't even need an engine. Bright Heart smiled. "Who's first?"

Cheer Bear was the first to jump forward. Gentle Heart watched silently as Bright Heart instructed her to strap herself into skis and secure bindings and whatnot. The lamb curiously looked on at the two. Though she herself found it very odd, Gentle Heart realized that Cheer Bear was looking at the raccoon very oddly… was she intentionally batting her eyelashes and smiling _that_ sweetly? The lamb sighed. First, she thought it might have been unintentional, but now she realized that the pink bear was flirting. What Love-A-Lot Bear and Proud Heart had sad must have gotten to a few bear's heads. Looking around, she finally spotted Love-A-Lot. And no surprise, she and Tender Heart were playing 'Twister,' only a portion of the tangled mess of other Carebears. Her attention turned back to Bright Heart and Cheer and the raccoon accelerated into the lake. The result was Cheer Bear falling into the water, which gained a few laughs from the Carebears as Bright Heart shouted that she'd be up and skiing once things got faster.

"Are you sure you don't wanna do this?" Playful Heart questioned.

Gentle Heart nodded, watching as Cheer had great difficultly standing up while skiing. "I can deal without it."

The monkey cousin shrugged. "If you say so."

She took a step back, and once again saw Proud Heart standing by the punch bowel with Harmony Bear. She walked over, joining the two.

"What's wrong?" Harmony Bear asked in a sing-song voice, "You look sad."

"I'm not," Gentle Heart responded, being truthful. She wasn't sad, she was just surprisingly bored.

Proud Heart handed the lamb a cup of punch, and sighed, sitting down in one of the many fold-out chairs. "It's been hours since I last brushed my fur. I better not start matting…."  
There was a sudden loud splash as Cheer Bear finally fell into the water and let go of the handle that was attached to the rope connecting her to the back of the boat. All heads turned instinctively, but didn't expect to see Bright Heart turning the boat around. She blinked. "What's happening?"

"I don't know. But Cozy Heart's already halfway to Cheer… wow, she can swim," Proud Heart commented.

Gentle Heart looked over to see Noble Heart, Champ Bear, Tender Heart and Brave Heart running to the edge of the lake. She then saw what was the cause of all the commotion as the four Carebears began a countdown. She set her cup down, as both Proud Heart and Harmony Bear gave her confused stares. "What's the matter?"

"Shadows," she answered.

The two looked over towards the lake, and the red eyes of the shadows could be seen through the darkness. The three walked to the edge of the water also, ready to stare. Gentle Heart looked to Brave Heart. "What do they want?"

The lion growled. "I don't know, but I'm not gonna let those shadows crash the party!"

The lamb looked at the ground. Why was No Heart doing this? He should know that she wouldn't be so trusting of him if he decided to harm her family. Cozy Heart and Cheer finally swam back to the shore, Cheer shivering. Bright Heart rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry I couldn't get you… if those shadows distracted my driving, someone at the shore could get hurt."

Still remaining her usual self, Cheer managed to grin despite the fact her teeth were chattering insanely. "It's… okay. J-Just do me f-f-favor and make them go away…"

"Right!" Noble Heart nodded, "We won't let them. Cousins, call!"

True Heart joined him, standing to his side. "Carebears, stare!"

Just at that moment, more shadows appeared directly behind them and instead of hurting the Carebears, they simply began trashing the party. Brave Heart was the first to react, and with a roar, fired his first cousins call. It hit a shadow, and with a hiss, it retreated back into the darkness. Gentle Heart felt herself become surrounded by Carebears and cousins, stuck in the middle of a ring before being pushed back into the ring, finding herself standing next to Tender Heart. The red-brown bear looked at her uncertainly. "Gentle Heart? Are you sure you want to do this?"

Was he doubting her ability to be like any other Carebear and stick up for the family? The lamb softly nodded, though she herself wasn't exactly sure. She quickly ran over all of the things she learned during tummy symbol practice, and tensed. Her tummy symbol glowed bright pink in response. The shadows paused, hissing to themselves in the shadows, then moving as one, floated forward. Noble Heart clenched his paws into fists. "We've got to separate! Staying as one will only give us a bigger chance of being picked off by them."

True Heart bear nodded in agreement. "On the my count! Three…two…one… go!"

Gentle Heart began to separate from the ring like everyone else, not even knowing where she was going. The lamb cousin skidded to a halt, nearly running into two shadows. She didn't hesitate to fire the stare that she had been waiting for and sent both of them away before they even moved or glanced in her direction. She smiled. She wasn't so bad after all! Then the lamb noticed more eyes approaching from the forest and inwardly groaned. Without warning, she felt something grab her shoulder and turned, expecting for it to be a shadow. Instead, she found herself staring into the eyes of Playful Heart. The monkey cousin let go of her shoulder. "Follow me!"

Gentle Heart nodded, not bothering to ask for an explanation. Playful Heart darted to the woods that were farthest from where the shadows were coming from, Gentle Heart following. He suddenly turned and grabbed her paw, gently guiding her to behind a fallen log. The lamb ducked with him, out of view of what was happening at the party scene. She lowered her voice so they wouldn't be heard by any shadows nearby. "What is it?"

"It looked like you were having trouble," Playful Heart answered in the same tone, "I don't think the shadows will find you here."

Gentle Heart once again felt her heart seem to fall in disappointment. Somehow, it was like what Tender Heart had said, only ten times worse. "You think I couldn't do it?"

Playful Heart flicked his tail, not expecting that as an answer. "I don't think any Carebear could. There were dozens of shadows around you."

"Oh," She answered softly.

He blinked. "What's wrong?"

There was a rustle to their left, and they turned to see two shadows float over, having been hit by stares. Then they both suddenly looked at the two as if hearing something. Their red eyes narrowed in anger, and then they began to float past all of the pink and green trees that now looked black and gray in the darkness, for the wire supporting all of the lights around the party had snapped at some point. Gentle Heart gasped, realizing that it was much too late to even run or conjure up a stare. Or at least in her case. On the other hand, Playful Heart jumped to his feet and blocked Gentle Heart.

"Get away from my friend," Playful Heart demanded in his most brave voice he could muster.

The shadows merely stopped for a moment, then with a hiss that sounded more like a snicker of amusement, continued floating their way. Playful Heart gulped, also realizing even he couldn't come up with a stare so quickly. One of the shadows suddenly darted forward, just stopped short of Playful Heart and snarled very loudly, causing him to jump, exposing Gentle Heart. Both shadows laid eyes on her, then an odd expression crawled unto their gargoyle features. She blinked, not understanding their sudden change of intention. The shadows stared only a second longer, exchanged glances, and as if realizing something, slunk once more back into the woods. Playful Heart watched them go along with Gentle Heart and grinned. "I sure showed them!"

The lamb didn't have the same idea as him. She knew that the shadows recognized her and then stopped. Playful Heart helped her to her feet as she concluded No Heart must have warned his shadows not to harm her. She sighed. He said that he wouldn't hurt her… but it must be okay to hurt her family in his eyes. Playful Heart noted her thinking expression. "Something troubling you?"

"Shadows have attacked my family's birthday party," she answered softly.

Playful Heart looked toward the scene. The last group of shadows floated away into the skies to retreat to the castle from which they came. He smiled. "It's not that bad. It'll only take a few minutes to get everything back to itself. The snack table wasn't even touched!"

Gentle Heart found that he was right. The only real harm done was that the lights came undone from the wires and games were scattered across the floor. Even the music still continued to played. All that needed to be done was pick up the games and then make the bonfire to light things back up again. She looked down, realizing he was still holding her paw from helping her up. Not wanting to be rude, she simply cleared her throat. This alone somehow seemed to remind him, and he quickly moved his paw back to his side with a weak laugh. "Whoops. I guess we better help."

They entered the party scene just in time to see Brave Heart produce a flashlight with his tummy symbol, growling. "Just leave it to No Heart to ruin our fun! He really makes my blood boil!"

True Heart, always the optimist, made a kerosene lantern and began picking up the Twister map. "I still think it was fun… you have to admit, your face _was_ a little funny when you first saw those shadows."

Playful poked Brave Heart in the face with his famous obnoxious laugh. "Our maybe he was scared for his _darling_ Cheer Bear!"

The lion growled, swatting at Playful Heart, and headed elsewhere with his flashlight. "I'm starting the bonfire…"

Gentle Heart also concentrated, and created a flashlight with her tummy symbol. Everyone else seemed to be following suit as they either helped fix the damage or help with the bonfire. She began picking up bits of the torn banner so birds in the forest wouldn't think they were something edible. In only minutes, everything was already back to its normal place, and what garbage that could be burned was used for fuel for the bonfire. Soon, everyone was seated around the large bonfire. Sitting between Playful Heart and a sleeping Bedtime Bear, Gentle Heart allowed herself to finally relax, feeling as though she hadn't had it in an eternity. To complete the bonfire tradition, Harmony Bear produced her acoustic guitar which she was teaching herself to play and beganshowing Good Luck Bear a few chords. Gentle Heart sat silently, growing more and more tried with every passing second though there was still very much going through her head. She slowly blinked. Maybe that's why she was growing so tired… having to think so much lately. She let herself fall on to the nearest pillow, not even caring who or what it was and watched the flames of the fire hypnotically until sleep finally caught up with her.


	5. Of Rain and Pizza

Sorry that I'm hardly updating… school is giving me truckloads of homework every night. Good news is that a play that has been taking up a lot of my time has finished. Expect more entries over spring break!  
-WretchedWords

**5. Of Rain and Pizza**

The sound of wind rustling past leaves and grass reached the ears of a sleeping Carebear cousin. Gentle Heart groaned aloud, rolling over on to her side and feeling soft grass beneath her. Her eyes flicked open. Why wasn't she in bed? The lamb suddenly sat upright, looking around quickly. Then her mind suddenly remembered falling asleep at the bonfire. Only now it was a pile of ash, embers still slightly glowing and soft wisps of smoke rising from it. She inhaled the clear Forest of Feelings air and fell back down into the soft, lush spring grass. There was a light blue blanket spread over her, indicating that someone must hadput it over her. Apparently, what started as a birthday party evolved into a camping trip. Despite the fact that she slept without a pillow or on a mattress, Gentle Heart felt very refreshed. There were snores all around her, and then she heard a yawn. Staring up at the sky, she could hear someone also sitting up.

"Morning, Gentle Heart," she heard a familiar voice say soft enough to not wake the others.

She rolled over to face Friend Bear, who was beginning to stretch. Careful not to wake anyone, she also said her 'good mornings' to the peach colored bear. Friend Bear stood and began stepping over all of the sleeping family members to get to the snack table. Gentle Heart once again closed her eyes though she wasn't very tired at all. Soon Friend Bear returned with a plate consisting of different chips and pretzels. She bit into one loudly. "Want some?"

"No thanks," Gentle Heart, "Salt in the morning makes me sick."

"Weird," Friend Bear shrugged, digging in. "You were out like a log last night. First to fall asleep."

"Oh," Gentle Heart heard answered in a soft tone, "Who gave me this blanket?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. They were all made with our tummy symbols. But it took a lot of effort getting you off of Playful Heart without waking you. It was like taking apart a bomb."

The lamb began tracing circles in the grass with her free paw. "Playful Heart?"

"Yup," Friend answered, biting loudly into another chip. "You were so tired you fell right on him. He didn't get you off though, saying that you were acting tired for the past few days."

There was a shuffle to the side, and Friend Bear stopped chewing, not moving. They both looked over to see a figure in the only gray blanket in the crowd stir. An aggravated sigh came from the figure. "Friend Bear, that's got to be you. Only you chew that loud."

Friend Bear grinned, swallowing. "Aww, Grumpy. It's nice to know that you can tell!"

The blue bear sat up, cracking his neck very loudly. He gave her a sour look. "You can learn a few things from Gentle Heart. She knows how to be quiet, unlike some people."

The lamb grinned as Friend Bear nudged her. "Crabby-in-the-morning-syndrome."

The blue bear looked over to his side, to read the watch that Bright Heart never seemed to take off. He rubbed his eyes once, and then inspected the time. "Wow. It's seven. I need some coffee."

"Gross!" Friend Bear shuddered, finishing her plate of junk food, "I need to take a shower. I'll be back though."

Gentle Heart nodded as the two bears left her. She was fine just where she was. Birds were also awakening, filling the forest with the sounds of their chirps and humming insect wings. She tried to recall what had happened last night, feeling the effects of waking up early when staying awake late the previous night. She mainly remembered True Heart opening her presents, and bits and pieces of when the shadows came. She was probably too distracted to really take note of what was happening around her at the time. The lamb closed her eyes as a light zephyr blew past her. She couldn't possibly go back to No Heart after last night. He did keep his promise by not hurting her, but instead attempted to do so to her family. Now all she had to do was find a way to return the book without getting caught, despite how she was intrigued by what was inside. She would just have to learn how to live without whatever magic he was going to teach her… and she somehow felt herself grow sad at this realization.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Harmony Bear waking up, screaming. She sat up along with anyone else once asleep to find that Lotsa-Heart had rolled unto her guitar and the neck was completely broken off. The elephant cousin spewed apologies out faster than Swift Heart could run, and this was the wake-up call for the family. Soon everyone was up and running, now ready to conquer the day ahead of them.

"Gentle Heart, can you come here?"  
The lamb stood in the Hall of Hearts waiting for a caring mission she hadn't had in over a week when Noble Heart horse called her. She jumped out of the chair with her tummy symbol on the back to indicate at was her official spot at the heart table. Noble Heart sat at a desk on the rooms before a gigantic map of earth alongside Tender Heart with a stack of papers. He handed her a paper.

"Here's your mission for now… I've been told you have experience with this girl," Noble Heart said, eyes not leaving the papers.

Gentle Heart took her paper, looking at what her caring mission was as she walked from table to get a cloud car from the hangars. The first thing stated on the paper was what the caring mission was. A girl was being mean to her family, little brother especially. Gentle Heart finally reached the hangar where a cloud car was already waiting for the next one to go on a mission. She isn't very familiar with anyone who was especially mean to their family. She looked down on the paper, running her finger to find the name. Finally, she saw it and almost groaned. Cassidy. Her mind went back to her last encounter with the girl in the woods and how she had been told she was hated. Gentle Heart hopped into her cloud car, shut the door and sighed, grabbing the steering wheel. She wasn't very up to the job, but she was assigned it. If she didn't do it, no one else would be able to.

Secret Bear was up ahead with a flag in each paw, waving them to signal she and anyone else planning to leave the runway that it was open. He only waved the right flag, which meant she was clear to go. Gentle Heart folded the paper and tucked it beneath her leg, moving forward. Soon, she was in the air and flying farther from Care-A lot. The sun was hidden behind thick gray clouds, indicating that the annual spring rains were on the way. She once again pulled out the paper when she was closer to earth, finding where the girl was. It would only take ten or more minutes to get there from where she was.

Soon enough, she passed by the bright forest where she met Cassidy first and also where the picnic was held. It seemed darker covered by the shadow of the heavy clouds, and she soon learned that only a moment after flying above the forest, it ended and was soon replaced by a typical suburbia. It was a very nice one, too… almost all houses had either two floors, an occasional third one, and the yards were very well kept. She finally saw where her caring mission was to take place and cautiously began to descend. She parked the cloud car in a small thicket of pine trees that separated streets, and hopped out, stepping back to see if it was visible. Confirming that the shadows hid it, she looked at the house where Cassidy lived. It was a two-story brick house surrounded by an iron fence that boxed it and the yard in. Then she finally spotted Cassidy, sitting on the swing set in the backyard, arms folded across her chest, fuming. The lamb looked right and left, then hurriedly cross the street. She squeezed between the fence and stood in the yard. Cassidy didn't even notice her. She cleared her throat.

Cassidy looked over at the lamb, blinked, then put her face in her hands. "Just what I need…"

Gentle Heart slowly walked forward. "Maybe."

She took a seat on a swing next to Cassidy, thinking of what to say that might help her. After careful consideration, she finally decided to be straight forward. "Maybe you should apologize to your brother."

"What?" Cassidy looked up. "How do you know that I was… ah, forget it."

"I can't forget," Gentle Heart answered, "It's wrong to hurt others feelings. Nothing can be solved by trying to leave things like this."

Cassidy stood, folded her arms once again and began walking away. "It's not my fault."

Gentle Heart slid off the swing, the chains dangling as she did so. She thought a moment. It was pretty common in caring missions that the child or person they were helping would be the cause of their own sadness, or it's them who make others become angered so they will hurt feelings, too. She thought so far that Cassidy might be one of these types. She walked by Cassidy's side, hoping that she wouldn't make the girl say something hurtful again. "Maybe you could come to Care-A lot. There will be lots of friends you can talk to and rely on there."

Cassidy paused. "Friends? I don't need them. They don't want me, so I don't want them."

Gentle Heart carefully chose her words. "Don't you have any friends to talk to?"

She rolled her eyes. "What do you think?"

"I can help," Gentle Heart offered, "I know how hard it can be finding the right friends to trust."

Cassidy seemed to be contemplating the answer. Gentle Heart could see her debating, therefore proving that all she really did want was friends. If she had friends, it may also mean that she wouldn't be so negative and also make her family feel the same way or help her stop looking at herself and talents so negatively. It's amazing what friends could bring to you. Finally the girl seemed to decide. "Sure. I'll give you one chance, and if that doesn't work, will you stop bothering me?"

Gentle Heart slowly nodded, pretty sure that she could help the girl get friends. "Promise."

"Fine," Cassidy said. "Everyone else we be at the park by now. You can TRY to get me friends there."

The lamb agreed, and then the girl went inside to tell her mother and father that she was leaving. Gentle Heart shifted her weight from foot to foot as she waited, thinking of what advice to give to the girl. She felt a single raindrop fell on her nose, and she looked up to the sky to see more falling. Looking back to where her cloud car was parked beneath the trees, she hoped that the pine trees would block at least some of the rain from getting inside. Cassidy soon came outside, luckily carrying an umbrella in one hand. A jacket wasn't needed, for it was humid and warm enough for the rain to not be very cold. Cassidy opened it. "Come on. Before everyone leaves."

Gentle Heart stood beneath the bright orange umbrella as they began walking hurriedly. She cleared her throat. "Remember, when you are trying to make friends, you don't have to try to impress anyone."

"Why not?" Cassidy asked with a tone that seemed to suggesting that the Carebear cousins was stupid.

"Because," Gentle Heart said, "They should like you for who you are. First impressions last with friends."

Soon, they arrived at the park. Despite the rain, there were several kids around her age. The park was fairly large, the name being 'Sycamore Park,' appropriately named after all of the wide sycamore trees scattered throughout it. There was a fairly large jungle gym painted with the color scheme of yellow and black, two swing sets that seated eight people each, see saws and sidewalks that twisted and curved throughout the parks. Both Cassidy and Gentle Heart looked around, and then Cassidy pointed. "Their in my class."

Gentle Heart looked to see three kids around her age rollerblading on the sidewalks despite the rain. There were two boys and one girl, all ignoring the rain. "Do you want to talk to them?"

Cassidy sighed. "Fine. What are you gonna say?"

"Um. I shouldn't be there," Gentle Heart said, and before Cassidy could answers, she added, "It's best for friends to meet by each other and not by other people. If you're just open and friendly, they should like you."

"Fine," Cassidy shoved the umbrella into Gentle Heart's paws, who stood in the rain, watching Cassidy walk to a bench next to the sidewalk before she herself walked with the umbrella to a sycamore tree. She slumped against it, sliding down on to the grass that hadn't been touch by rain yet. She looked on as Cassidy took a seat in bench, folded her arms and hunched as though she didn't want to be doing this.

Gentle Heart sighed, talking as though Cassidy should be able to hear her. "They'll think that you won't want to talk to them looking like that…"

Instead, she watched as the three rollerblading kids approached, and then skidded to a halt one by one without even falling. She couldn't hear completely what was being said over the rain, but heard something along the faint lines of 'are you okay?' from the only girl of the three kids. Cassidy responded, sitting up, leaving the grumpy appearing position from earlier. In only minutes, Cassidy soon got up and headed her way. Gentle Heart stood. "What happened?"

"They're getting extra rollerblades from the car," Cassidy explained.

Gentle Heart smiled. "That's really good! Aren't you happy?"

"Yes," Cassidy seemed to snap, "Once you give me back my umbrella."

That somehow seemed to feel about as worse as what the girl had said on the first caring mission. Gentle Heart blinked, looked down at the bright yellow umbrella still in her paws, and then held it out. The girl took it, opened it and simply walked away. The lamb stood for a moment underneath the sycamore tree. Another Carebear should have gotten this mission instead. Despite her sensitive emotions, she didn't cry this time but simply began to head back through the park to her cloud car. Walking through the warm rain, she placed her paws behind her back as she thought. Why was it that once someone thought that everything was gradually growing better, the smallest things could bring it all back down? After some time she finally reached her destination, her cloud car, and hopped in. The pine trees around it had blocked the majority of the rain, and even if there was any inside, they were only small drops.

The lamb paused for a moment in her cloud car. She didn't feel like going back to Care-A lot. It was only a bit past noon and much more time in the day to waste… and it felt as though it shouldn't be back in Care-A lot. The lamb drummed her fingers on the dashboard. She might as well spend some time on earth while she was still here. But it wasn't any fun alone… plus, it felt as though she would need all the cheering up possible with the help of a friend. But who would that be? Her closest friends in all the Kingdom of Caring would have to be Proud Heart cat and Harmony Bear. But she also knew them both very well… Proud Heart usually talked too much and tended to complain about things and grow distracted easily, and Harmony Bear listened too hard and never said much. It was hard talking with Harmony when she herself isn't much of a talker to begin with. Thinking of all she could, Gentle Heart thought of her options, trying to remember who was free for the day and who might be on caring missions. Finally she decided on who could lift her spirits and also was pretty fun to be around.

She lifted up the radio in the cloud car and held down the 'talk' button. "Is anyone there?"  
"Yep," came the reply, "This is Friend and Secret Bear."

"Do you know if Playful Heart is free?" she asked.

She could hear a slight giggle and decided not to question them about it, but soon Friend Bear answered. "Try other channels."

"Okay, thanks," Gentle Heart replied and began using other channels on the radio. All were empty aside from one that was occupied by Grumpy Bear, and then finally heard Playful Heart answer her on the last channel.

"I'm here. Just coming back from a caring mission," Playful Heart replied to her, voice muffled from the static of the radio. "Where are you?"  
"A bit away from the woods were we helped Cassidy and where we had the picnic," Gentle Heart explained.

Soon, it was decided that the two would spend their time before going back to the Kingdom of Caring on getting pizza. Something that Playful Heart seemed to think as tradition whenever it rained on caring missions. After a moment of deciding on where she was exactly located, she finally sat back in her seat with a sigh, looking up at the gray clouds above. She couldn't tell whether she wanted to go with Playful Heart or truly just go home and sleep for the next month. In the back of her mind, something was telling her that she had made a mistake not too long ago… but also like recently, her thoughts were scrambled and it wasn't easy to see which ones were which. With another sigh, she closed her eyes, glad the trees were sheltering her from the rain.

"BOO!"

Gentle Heart lamb sat up abruptly, grabbing the side of her cloud car so tightly her knuckles nearly cracked. Looking around wildly, she saw tree trunks, hardly remembering how she got here. Then she heard laughter and looked to her side to see no other than Playful Heart monkey, laughing near hysterically, grabbing the other side of the cloud car for support. Her memory finally seemed to catch up with her, and Gentle Heart exhaled a shuddering breath. Rain still softly fell from the skies as Playful Heart finally seemed to stop enough to make eye contact with her. "S-Sorry," he managed to say through giggles, "I couldn't help it!"

There was a hint of a headache in the back of her head from the scare, and she put a paw to it as if it would help. "It's… okay."

Playful Heart hopped into the passenger seat of the cloud car. "So, shall we leave?"

"Do you have any money?" Gentle Heart asked. Not many Care Bears carried any unless they really planned to go to a restaurant or anything alike it, since they didn't have jobs. The only Care Bear that ever even attempted one was Champ Bear, working at a fast food place. He was finally fired because he supposedly made the others working with him uncomfortable and he constantly spent more time dealing with sad kids that went inside than actually working. It wasn't every day that someone worked with a Care Bear that only reached your knees in height.

Playful Heart nodded, opening his palm to reveal ten dollars. "Champ gave it to me from his last job."

"But wasn't that months ago?" Gentle Heart asked, turning the cloud car on and rising into the air.

"Yep," Playful Heart answered, "But it was well worth it! I had to eat a pinecone."

The lamb wrinkled her nose, amazed at what desperate things someone could do for money. Playful Heart sniffed, wiping his  
nose. "It tasted like toothpaste."

Days can either pass by very quickly or much too slowly in the Kingdom of Caring. Through the eyes of a quiet lamb, everything seemed to be moving by much more quickly than it normally would have, though she would have though other wise with her last mission. Also weeks could be uneventful or the craziest one could have. And this was an uneventful one. There weren't even any shadow attacks, and it seemed as though No Heart had decided to give up on defeating the Carebears. Not even Beastly came to disturb anything, and it had been proven that Shrieky finally left weeks ago and wouldn't return for a long while.

Gentle Heart lamb yawned, putting her paw to her mouth as she wandered down the hallway of her home. It was Sunday, the week going to be reborn in less that 12 hours. She ran over what had happened. On Monday, she was granted the caring mission that began as fairly good until it came crashing down in the very end of it. Pizza was Playful Heart was much more awkward than she thought… all of the people inside of the store just seemed to stare and ignore what was on her plates. Most of the cousins all met in the Forest of Feelings to help plant trees in Proud Heart's garden. Aside from these things, nothing was eventful in the least bit. The lamb entered her bathroom to brush her teeth, and then soon went into her room with pale violet walls. Yawning once again, she picked up a hairbrush and tiredly began to brush her wool, not wanting it to get tangled in her sleep.

Eyes nearly closed and about to fall asleep on the spot, the lamb seemed to feel a temperature change around her. Looking to her right, she saw that her windows were both closed, white draperies not stirring from even the slightest hint of a breeze. It seemed as though a perfect horror movie scene, and she forced herself to look at the mirror above her dresser again. Only to drop her brush in surprise.

Stumbling backwards, she grabbed her bed post to keep from falling. _"No Heart?" _

The image of the sorcerer in her mirror had a hint of amusement in her red eyes. "You've been avoiding me."


	6. Truth in Colors

**6. Truth in Colors**

No Heart watched as Gentle Heart took a few steps back to increase the distance between them. She swallowed nervously. He must be furious at her! She never even though to return the book that he had given her! Her eyes darted to the deep brown book sitting on her bedside table. "What do you w-want?"

"To have an answer," No Heart answered, "Why do you avoid me?"

Gentle Heart had to think for a moment, wondering how to say the right words without getting him angry. She didn't even know how he would react to any of her words. "You tried to hurt my family," she finally blurted.

The sorcerer chuckled. "Ah. You must be thinking of the shadows."

"Yes," she said quietly.

His image in her mirror blurred, twisting into what looked like deep purple smoke and then forming into a smaller shape. No Heart shifted to a cat, then reached a paw forward. Much to Gentle Heart's amazement, his front paw reached through the mirror and unto her dresser. He stalked out in this form to fit through, and then leapt back on the ground where he shifted to his original form once again. This only caused her to back away even more, her back to the wall in moments. In her head, Gentle Heart calculated how long it would take for someone to get here if she made a call. Proud Heart lived closest… but it was still ten minutes away, which was ten minutes too many.

No Heart's cowl nearly touched the ceiling her room was so small. He raised a hand, causing Gentle Heart to float into the air. The lamb tightly closed her eyes, trying not to whimper. He only relocated her to be sitting at the foot of her bed. Still, she shivered, now being even closer to him. His expression didn't change. "Tell me… when my shadows attacked your little celebration, did anyone get hurt?"

"No," she answered softly.

"Was there any permanent damage to your Forest _or_ to any items at the celebration?" He questioned once again.

She shook her head 'no,' growing much more nervous with every passing second. No Heart nodded. "This would be because my shadows were told not to harm anyone or anything by me. The action was only making it appear as though things were how they have been for many years… making things appear less suspicious."

"What… do you mean?" Gentle Heart asked, not fully understanding.

He seemed to be patient. "You must admit that either I or my shadows cause some trouble for you," he said, not pointing out that the 'trouble' he caused were really very thought-out attempts at destroying her family and failing, "And it would be quite suspicious of me to remain so quiet for so long. Therefore, I used my shadows to make it look as though nothing has changed and that I wasn't planning anything. It would only heighten the chances of you being found at my castle."

The lamb blinked. She hadn't thought of that at all… and then she slightly blushed, realizing how stupid and unintelligent she must seem for not realizing this before. But did that mean… it was still okay for her to learn magic? No Heart folded her arms across his chest. "Do you still wish to learn magic, now knowing this?"

She looked up at him, finding it best to just decide on the spot. She couldn't deny it much… she truly was interested in what he had showed her before. That morning a week ago when she decided that she wasn't going to learn magic, she was said. But it still was wrong! She was a Carebear, and No Heart has tried to destroy them so many times… "Yes."

She shut her mouth. Did she just say that?

No Heart nodded. "Then it shall be so. Do not wait long… your _family_ must not suspect anything."

With that, he shifted into the cat once more, turning and leaping gracefully on to the dresser. He seemed to begin to move forward, then realize something. The purple house cat turned to look at her, one paw on the frame of the mirror. "Remember… you must not tell even the _closest_ of your family of what you are learning."

Then he jumped into the mirror, his image slowly disappearing like steam. The lamb still sat on her bed, staring at the mirror. She stood, and empty-minded walked to her closest, pulled out a spare blanket and threw it over the mirror. Gentle Heart stared at the beige blanket now over the mirror. "What have I gotten myself into…?"

It was now final that she would not be able to sleep for probably hours now. She needed to think. The lamb wandered into her kitchen almost in a dream-state and immediately put a kettle over the stove, filling one third of it with water. Sitting in her chair at the small table and leaning back, she closed her eyes and sighed listening to dull fizzing noise that boiling water makes. Why did everything have to be so confusing? She knew she said she wanted to learn magic still, but she knew it was wrong. Especially saying it when you're a Care Bear of all things.

Still thinking, it wasn't long until the kettle hissed very loudly, causing her to jump a mile high. She grabbed the table edge with a yelp, and her eyes darted to the kettle. A steady steam leaked out from the spout. She exhaled, rubbing her tired eyes with her paws. Walking to the stove, she turned the fire off. Despite what she had done so far, she not only didn't want to think, but she was growing tired though she predicted otherwise. Climbing in bed, she pulled the lavender sheets over her head, closing her eyes tightly, being sure that the dresser and mirror were to her back.

Gentle Heart was even surprised with herself she was doing this. Thunder boomed in the massive storm clouds that surrounded the castle of No Heart. A shiver ran up her spine as she craned her neck to see the very tops. It seemed as though the storm clouds were more intimidating than the actual castle, those it was just immense. She remembered Bright Heart telling her when it was storming in the Forest of Feelings that lightning was five times hotter than the surface of the sun. It was no wonder simple clouds with lightning could be so frightening. The nose of her cloud car finally moved into the thick clouds, and once again she felt all of her wool stand up on end as the static electricity around her increased. It wasn't a fun trip through the clouds… but after it was worse.

She was greeted by an enormous flash of lightning as soon as she broke through and went into the other side. Temporarily blinded, Gentle Heart rubbed her eyes yet still pressed on. She accelerated, cloud car dipping downward sharply. "Come on…" Gentle Heart persuaded her cloud car as the large during of the castle began to grow closer. She didn't know how much longer her little cloud car could go this fast!  
Finally, she reached it just in time, for a good portion of the car dissipated into thin air as she hopped off. Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked into the space between the clouds and the castle, amazed that she went directly through it without being shot by lightning and knocked out of the air. Now she had another task. She looked at the same, large double doors she looked at a bit more than a week ago. Clearing her throat nervously, she raised a paw. "I have to do it," she encouraged herself, "I'm stronger than I look… _aren't I?"_

As if to answer this question herself, she knocked as hard as she could. She wasn't used to knocking hard on anything at all and was surprised by the somewhat loud noise she heard. The lamb stood back, waiting, eyes transfixed on the doors. She waited nearly a minute, then frowned, walking to the doors once again, raising her paw to knock. They swung open very suddenly, and the wind the doors made caused her to shiver. Beastly blinked dully inside, then sighed. "Come on in…"

It was clear No Heart had ordered him to do this, and Beastly wasn't very fond of the command. Knowing that Beastly followed every single order No Heart gave him, she stepped inside. It was slightly warmer, but she still had goose-bumps hidden beneath her pale green fur. Beastly let out another really long, exaggerated sigh. "Right this way…"

She followed him throughout the enormous castle. Now that she was riding on the back of a wolf, she had time to look around. Everything was stone… stone wall, ceiling and floor. There was a blood red stretch of carpet on the floor that reminded her of a runway, but it was quite clear No Heart didn't plan on decorating anything. She eventually lost count of all the doors and hallways she had passed there were so many. When they were in an outside hall with the cold skies just beyond the wall, there were stained glass windows of deep blue and purple, turning the hallways violet. Soon, she became familiar of where she was and soon stood in front of another set of doors that would lead her to the cauldron room. Beastly glanced at her, cleared his throat and knocked on the door. "No Heart…? You have a _visitor_."  
"Then bring her in."

Beastly used her shoulder to nudge the door open, since he could just push it with his arm it was that large compared to it. Gentle Heart looked inside of the cauldron room, catching a glimpse of No Heart using his magic to make the contents in his cauldron disappear. He turned to face Gentle Heart. "So good of you to return…"  
Beastly left as Gentle Heart climbed up the thin stairs to the balcony, careful not to look down into the lightning pit. She brushed a wisp of wool beneath her ear, not knowing how to reply. Going to business, No Heart made a motion with his hand, and a book floated into it from the table. "Time that would have been spent on you learning magic has been wasted due to the… 'misunderstanding.' Therefore, we mustn't waste time."

Gentle Heart blinked. By what he just said, it almost sounded like there was a time limit to her learning magic. No Heart set the book down, now it open to a page. "Has anything been troubling you lately or causing stress?"

She looked at the ground. Why would he want to know this? Still, it was probably best to answer truthfully. Hopefully, he wouldn't question her of what it really was… after all, it wasn't as if he cared. She nodded slightly. "Yes."

"Then you must forget of that at the time," he instructed. "Attempt to clear your mind."

By now, the lamb was fairly confused, trying to remember anything that she had read in the book he gave her about this. She did remember something a bit vague of keeping minds clear when you perform spells. But that didn't necessarily mean she was going to make a spell. She still didn't have any idea about it! Still, she tried to clear her mind. That only made thoughts worse.. her worries of No Heart, something about Playful Heart even she wasn't sure about, Cassidy saying hurtful things. The lamb frowned, closing her eyes, attempting it once again. _Don't think of anything… just forget it_, she thought to herself, then didn't even bother to tell herself this. Instead, she just thought nothing… with what she could feel, all she felt was a blank emotion. She had never had apathy before.

She heard No Heart's voice, fairly faint as if he wasn't standing just in front her. "I am not going to ask you of your problems. However, you must think of any one."

Gentle Heart didn't even react to this with an opinion, but rather just did as she said. Right now, she probably would have done anything she was told by anyone she was so deep in her trance. Her mind ran over all of the problems lately, and finally randomly selected one. Cassidy and what she had said. Gentle Heart was nearly brought out of her trance when she felt something cold around her hands, yet not completely touching, but her arms and paws moved to make it appear as if she was holding an invisible ball. In the back of her mind, her logic and thought seemed to still be working. It must be No Heart's hands around her using her magic so she wouldn't wake… after all, when he had shifted to the snake and was hanging from the tree to form the snake, she finally felt just how cold he really felt. It felt like touching ice.  
"Ask for an answer."

Gentle Heart's eyelids fluttered momentarily. It was very hard not to come out of her trance. She was beginning to slip farther from it, and was moving in and out of it. Finally, after much concentration, she moved back in. '_Why does she hate me so much?' _she questioned, her lips moving while asking the question, but no sound came out. She felt the cold air around her paws leave and was replaced by a warm one.

Then she heard a somewhat proud voice of No Heart. "Open your eyes."

Her eyelids twitched, and then she finally opened them and gasped, about to drop her paws to her side.

"Don't lose it," No Heart said quickly, and she was forced to hold her paws in the same position. The lamb swallowed though she wasn't very nervous at all. "What is it?"

Between her two paws, there was a very faint, pale pink light. When she squinted her eyes, she made out a very small shape. It almost looked like a butterfly. No Heart moved around her so her back was to him. "It has to be the most simple magic to perform. Only certain people can do this, though it does require some great thought and concentration to perform. This is why I chose you… anyway! It is a form of magic that reveals emotions that your own mind cannot find… worries, stress and confusion block it. It finds true answers inside of you."

"What does this mean..?" Gentle Heart asked, questioning the color of the light.  
"Each color has it's own meaning, and the darker the shade is the more intense or deep the emotion is," No Heart explained, "Have you read anything of it in the book I gave you?"  
She furrowed her brow, trying to remember. What did red mean? She had forgot very easily from thinking she wouldn't continue this, but tried to remember. "Red is… anger?"

"Yes," No Heart replied, "You must also have a great memory. That elephant friend if yours could learn a few things from you."

A slight blush managed to tint her pale cheeks. She wasn't often used to compliments, especially one coming from a sorcerer. It then occurred to her that she wouldn't expect him to say something like this, even if she did or didn't know him as much as the other Carebears. Then another realization came to her. "Red is anger?"

The sorcerer nodded. "The answers that the magic may give you may not be believable. But it is much more truthful than what you'd believe yourself."  
The lamb stared at the faint red between her paws. It suddenly seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye, and she dropped her paws to her side. Her arms slightly hurt from holding them up so long, but she didn't complain or do anything about it. No Heart seemed to think for a moment and then looked down at her. "You must perfect this if you wish to learn anything else… it straightens the emotions, and magic is mainly based on them. Once this is done, you'll learn everything that I have to show you."

Her stomach gave a small flutter. Despite all of the hesitations she had been having, this was a lot exciting then she thought. She actually made magic! There was a very small smile on her lips as she could only imagine how great other magic would be, when something this small was so perfect. And she would do what No Heart told her to. She will perfect this magic and straighten her emotions. Still, she was slightly saddened that No Heart was dismissing her so early. He didn't even give her any helpful advice… all in all, she only had to have been with him for ten minutes or less. The lamb shrugged it off. He was a sorcerer, he had much more important things to deal with most likely. It must be harder than it looks making sure her family didn't think she was kidnapped or blackmailed into learning magic. She was brought out from her thoughts by No Heart.  
"Once you think you have mastered as much as you can, return here," No Heart answered, "But for your next visit, feel free to wander through the castle as long as you like. You might as well get used to being here."

She nodded quickly. "Okay. Um… should I go? Usually I'd be at the Hall of Hearts right now."

"Yes," No Heart replied. "I will take you there. Do not move."

Gentle Heart hardly had time to blink before he took the form of a single lightning bolt. She didn't even see the change, and the sudden bright light made her close her eyes, though she was sure not to move like he instructed. She felt the static electricity around her increase, and soon she was incredibly light. The lamb carefully opened her eyes and gasped. Looking down, she could see clouds moving at an incredibly fast speed, it was almost nauseating. Now a panic beginning to set, she looked around her. She was actually in the air, and about two inches away from her was a violet lightning bolt. The lamb could only blink. Was that No Heart? Before even having the chance to think of how she was being held in the air without falling, she suddenly felt the familiar soft clouds of Care-A lot beneath her.

Swaying, she put a paw to her forehead as an ache dully began to make itself known. She looked to her side, seeing No Heart, appearing impatient. She figured he didn't like the idea of being seen with her in Care-A lot. Gentle Heart couldn't help but groan as the headache seemed to hit her at full blast. "How did you do _that_?"  
"You will learn. Soon," No Heart answered hastily.

There was a shower of sparks as he once again turned to the lightning and zipped away. Though she had double vision and a splitting head ache, she could still think of how fast he was going. It must take only seconds for him to get from his castle to the Kingdom of Caring. That might have been a bit scary if she knew he wouldn't harm her. Then realizing that when he changed forms there was a huge burst of thunder, she moved away before someone came looking.

No Heart had dropped her off right behind the Hall of Hearts. She made her way to the front and opened the doors cautiously. Inside, the usual breakfast crowd sat at tables or stood in line, and only a few looked to see who came in. She exhaled in relief. They didn't even suspect a thing. They probably didn't even hear the thunder. Trying to look as normal as possible, she composed herself and walked forward, going into the breakfast line.

"You're late," Proud Heart purred.

Gentle Heart didn't make eye contact as she selected a tray. "Huh?"

"You're usually here first," the cat replied, "Ah, well. I've been sleeping in, too."

Relieved that Proud Heart didn't reveal any suspicions, Gentle Heart hurriedly filled her tray with scrambled eggs and toast and grabbed a glass of orange juice. She couldn't help but look at the faces around in her thinking that someone would point and scream 'traitor.' She shuddered at the thought of it before being invited once again to sit by Playful Heart. She sat down across from him. "Hi."  
"Was something keeping you from coming here?" Playful Heart asked.  
"My alarm clock came unplugged last night," She replied, poking at her eggs with a plastic fork.

The monkey stared at her for a while, but didn't know quite what he was looking for. "You seem different…"

Once again being spooked, Gentle Heart slowly looked up, praying that it wasn't what she had just returned from. She swallowed her mouthful of eggs. "Is their something on my face?"

Playful Heart studied her once again, seeming to focus on her eyes, then came out of his trance. "No. But I guess I was wrong."

He lunged back into her mountainous stack of pancakes oozing with syrup, and Gentle Heart studied him. Was there something wrong with her friend? She felt something poke at her side, and she looked to her left to see Proud Heart elbowing her, grinning. Love-A-Lot was next to her, also grinning. Gentle Heart just blinked, not getting the purpose behind nudging her. Proud Heart sighed, looking desperate. "Clueless?"  
"I guess so," she answered softly.  
Love-A-Lot giggled, leaning over, nearly knocking Proud Heart off of her seat in the process. "I think someone has a crush."

Gentle Heart could only assume who she was talking about and slowly looked at Playful Heart. The monkey was curiously looking at the three. Almost instantly the lamb felt herself blush and looked down at her tray. Playful Heart inquisitively stared. "What?"

"Just a joke," Love-A-Lot waved his paw in dismissal, slightly giggling.

Playful Heart gasped loudly. "I wanna hear it!"

Gentle Heart now was blushing five times worse. It couldn't be! Playful Heart was her friend, and a friend only, right? Now Playful Heart was begging to hear the joke. Proud Heart slapped a paw to her forehead. "Knock, knock."

"Who's there?" Playful Heart excitedly asked, near shaking he seemed that excited.

"Um. Going away…"

"Going away, who?"  
Proud Heart stopped. "Um. You… as in… going away."  
Playful Heart placed his paws on his hips. "That doesn't make any sense! Wait… that's kind of funny."

As the two continued to talk about the humor in the joke, if there was any, Gentle Heart furiously tore at her eggs with her fork. By now Love-A-Lot Bear had switched sides so she wouldn't have to lean over Proud Heart. She slightly smiled as she talked to Gentle Heart quietly. "Aw, don't be shy! It's just a little crush. You should give him a chance!"

She tried to say something as an excuse or a protest, but only a distressed jumble of words came out. She was very well aware of what Love-A-Lot was capable of doing… she could turn anyone in couples! Trying to change the subject, she coughed. "Are you… um… giving Tender Heart a chance?"

The pink bear smiled. "I think you're trying to change the subject!"

"I'm just asking," Gentle Heart murmured, now blushing insanely.

"If you really want to know, Tender Heart has told me that he does like me," Love-A-Lot smiled, "So this proves that girls aren't the only ones thinking about if we can like each other. You have to admit, Playful Heart is so reckless and hyper, but he always calms down and is SO sincere around you… it's cute."

The lamb covered her eyes, wanting to disappear. This was not the type of attention she wanted to receive after coming back from No Heart's castle. In fact, she was hoping of having a silent, late breakfast where she could think of practicing what new magic she had learnt. And now, inch by inch she was sliding farther down into her seat. She felt like a coyote that's willing to chew off its arm to escape from a trap. Only instead of a trap, she was stuck listening to Love-A-Lot trying to convince her to date Playful Heart or something along the same lines. Gentle Heart tried to block out Love-A-Lot talking. As a last resort, she finally uncovered her face and looked at Love-A-Lot in desperation. Her cheeks were stinging from blushing so much. "Can you _please_ st-"

She still couldn't bring herself to say something that she would find as hurtful and offensive. The pink bear shut her mouth tightly, though her eyes still said she wanted to convince her about Playful Heart. "Sorry. I can't help it!"

Gentle Heart simply nodded lightly, and then was forced to look down at her tray. The toast had long since gone cold, yet she wasn't hungry enough to even think about finishing it. Proud Heart and Playful Heart had grown silent, probably ending an argument that had formed. Of all the cousins, they tended to fight easier, though they were only small fits. Gentle Heart could feel the heat leaving her face, and she breathed in thankfully. She didn't know how long she would have lasted if Love-A-Lot didn't stop. Now, Playful Heart noted that her face was still a bit pink from blushing. "That must've been a really funny joke if you were laughing that long."

"It was," she mumbled in response.

Soon Playful Heart was called over by Birthday Bear to play a game of cards at another table, and Gentle Heart rose from the table she was at, grabbing her tray and half-touched glass of orange juice. She mumbled a quick excuse for leaving, something about leaving the over burner on at her house by accident, and then disposed of her tray and glass, leaving in a hurry. Once having exited, she leaned up against the double doors with a sigh. How much could happen in one day in less than an hour? Then Good Luck Bear had to go inside, so she hurriedly moved out of the way with an apology and stirred up a cloud car with her tummy symbol, hopping in.

Sitting beneath a huge pink-leafed tree with a purple trunk that blocked the warm spring sun, Gentle Heart finally seemed to feel at peace with herself for the entire morning. A yellow butterfly flitted over, landing on her nose to rest. Gentle Heart slowly blinked. She now felt so physically relaxed all she felt like doing was going to sleep where she was. But she couldn't. Gentle Heart slightly tilted her head forward so the butterfly would fly off, and she grabbed the two items she had 'called' to that were next to her. One was a small notepad with light pink paper, and the other was a deep purple gel pen. She took off the cap to the gel pen and drummed it on her knee as she thought. She needed to write down her problems.

She knew what to write first. She scribbled down 'Playful Heart' hurriedly and then moved on. In moments, she had two pages of the notepad filled. Placing the cap back on her gel pen, she looked at the first problem she was having. Playful Heart. She stopped a moment. "No… I better make sure I can still do it right first."

With the Forest of Feelings being her comfort zone, it wouldn't be too hard to concentrate. She slowly closed her eyes, the sounds of chirping birds and humming insects gradually decreasing in volume. The lamb raised both her paws, holding them about six inches apart. _Don't think of anything_, she reminded herself as she attempted to simply forget everything around her. All life outside of her head seemed to slowly drift away as she approached her trance. Finally, she knew that she had reached it. It was hard even thinking in the back of her mind. _Why is Cassidy so mean to me?_

A tingling shudder ran through her spine once, almost making her lose concentration, but she managed to hold on to the trance. Then she finally felt a familiar warmth spread from her fingers to the empty air between her paws. Taking a deep breath, Gentle Heart opened her eyes and recognized the pale red light that almost looked like an orb. Only this time something was different. Staring at it for a long while, she finally noticed that the red had increased a shade darker. Gentle Heart shrugged it off. If it was the truth, then there wasn't anything she could do to deny it. She dropped her paws to the ground on either side of her, causing the light to blink away. She had a black expression for a moment, but it was soon replaced by what she thought might have looked like a silly smile. She was actually using magic! The first of all the Care Bears and cousins!

She hurriedly grabbed her notepad and flipped through it to find the second problem; she wouldn't still want to mess up on the Playful Heart issue. It was about visiting No Heart against her family. She closed her eyes, and in moments was in another trance. It was much easier compared to the last two times, and it wasn't long until she opened her eyes to see the color of the light between her paws. It was a warm yellow. This was a lot easier than she thought! But then, she realized that she had completely forgotten about the book No Heart had given her that explained what the colors meant. It was too late now. She tried as best she could to remember what yellow meant. Closing her eyes to concentrate more, she finally recalled that one of the meanings was being content. She smiled in success, staring into the almost hypnotic light. She must have imagined the butterfly earlier, because try as she might, she couldn't see anything that even resembled one inside of the yellow light. She moved on, going down her list. Gradually, it was actually becoming harder to concentrate. "At least it's easier accepting things now," she said to herself softly.

Finally, she came to the end of her list. But there still was one more to do that was on the front. She flipped to the first page, staring at the 'Playful Heart' written in cursive purple ink. She didn't want to be angry with him… she was almost sure that she wouldn't be, but she also didn't expect feeling angered at Cassidy. Still, she decided that it was best to know and not make things only worse. She closed her eyes hard, and held out her paws. Her arms were beginning to feel sore from holding them up so many times, but this was the last one. _What do I feel about Playful Heart?_

It was a bit difficult concentrating, but soon she felt the warmth between her paws. She made sure she wouldn't lose it when she opened her eyes and began to do so.

"Practicing your cousin call?"

Her eyes snapped open, and she separated her paws hurriedly, catching a glimpse of the color but not noting what it was. Gentle Heart instinctively grabbed the list and shoved it into the soft patch of flowers she was sitting in, feeling bad that she might have broken a few stems by doing everything so fast. She looked around her, and soon focused on Bright Heart and Grumpy Bear on their way to Bright Heart's shed. She cleared her throat. "Um. Yes."

"Maybe I should start doing that more," Bright Heart put a paw to his chin.

Grumpy Bear scoffed. "Like it will help…"

The raccoon shot him a playful glare. "Sorry for interrupting, Gentle Heart. Come on, Grumpy, we have a cloud plane to finish!"

"Sounds like fun," Grumpy Bear rolled his eyes.

Gentle Heart watched as the two left, weakly smiling with a wave. That was very close… it almost felt like she would have a heart attack she had been so surprised. The lamb leaned back with a thud against the purple tree trunk, staring up at the bright sky that shined through pink leaves. Suddenly she didn't feel like practicing this magic anymore.


	7. Beastly

It just occurred to me now, reading through all of the old chapters, that things don't appear write on then how I really write them. On the site, you cannot tell when I separate paragraphs or I switch to a scene. Also, words that I _italicize_ are beginning to switch. Sorry for these things, but I have no idea how to fix them. I'm now separating scenes using a '+' so that may help things out some.

**7. Beastly **

The saying 'time flies when you're having fun' seemed to be truthful this week. Gentle Heart lamb sure was having a good time. Earlier in the week Wish Bear had personally come to Gentle Heart saying that Cassidy now had a fairly large group of friends thanks to Gentle Heart's mission, which the turquoise bear had seen through her star-o-scope. She herself even thought she had perfected the magic that No Heart had shown her… when it once took a minute at most to make the colored light appear, it now only took seconds. Gentle had found in the book No Heart had given her that the magic was titled 'drawing the truth,' seemingly based on obvious details. She had exhausted herself practicing it so much and her arms didn't get sore anymore she was so used to holding them up so long. The lamb had yet to visit No Heart again, and planned to do it within the week. She could only dream of what she would be taught of next.

* * *

"I hope you're proud of yourself."

"I am," Playful Heart weakly smiled, wincing as he sat down at his respectful place at the Hall of Hearts table.

True Heart simply sighed and she walked to her own seat, past Gentle Heart. The lamb watched as she took her seat, Noble Heart pulling it out for her. Only yesterday had she been scared out of her wits by Playful Heart. While volunteering to clean the gutters of the castle of caring with Champ Bear (they're the only ones that would probably be confident enough to do it), he decided to perform a stunt by hanging off of a window decoration, calling Cheer Bear's name to get her attention. Luckily, she had seen him, and it was her rainbow from her tummy symbol that saved him from hitting the ground, though it did manage to bruise his flanks a bit. Everyone helping replant flowers in the garden below, including Gentle Heart, thought he would be really hurt. With that scare over, it was the time to call forth a Care Bear and Cousin meeting.

By now, the Hall of Hearts was full of the Carebears and cousins. The attention of everyone was soon focused on True Heart and Noble Heart. True Heart stood and cleared her throat. "Carebears and cousins, everyone knows that the Carebear annual ball is soon arriving…"

Gentle Heart had almost forgot! Every year within the month of may, the Carebear family had began to celebrate a 'ball.' At first it was only a joke that gave the family to celebrate a second Halloween, and where funny costumes but have the theme of a masquerade ball. Then, it was only streamers as decorations, but somehow, things began to evolve into much more formal costumes and more complicated decorations. So it wasn't long until what was once a Halloween party soon changed into a masquerade ball. She was surprised she had forgotten… the family always acted like high school students waiting for their prom. The Hall of Hearts roared with the sound of everyone suddenly talking to each other, asking what their suggestions of a theme would be.

Noble Heart also stood, raising his paws for silence. "I know, it's exciting, but let's calm down for a moment."  
"Right," True Heart nodded, "Now is the time that we begin to plan ahead for the ball. Before blurting your answer, we'll be passing this hat around with blank pieces of paper. A pen will go around later… once you get these, write your suggestion for a theme. We'll be passing around the hat again where you can put in your paper. We'll do the drawing in a few minutes."

She produced a hat with blank strips of paper, and soon a pen began to circulate through the room with it. The room once again came alive with the voices of everyone talking at once. At the cousin's side of the table, Proud Heart leaned over. "I think it should be a fairy tale theme."

"That'd be fun," she answered softly, thinking of her own idea. She had probably thought of it a few times within the past while, but never really took tremendous notice or thought to it.

Soon the paper was at her, and she still had no idea of what to do. This would only be the fourth year of the ball actually being considered one, and not just a Halloween attempt. The other previous two were 'Black Tie Affair' (mainly to see how awkward the guys would be wearing tuxedos…), Rhapsody in Green, which was a garden theme, and the last, which was her favorite was called 'A Night under the Stars.' The Hall of Hearts table had been cleared away, leaving the entire floor open aside from the refreshment table. Those who had done decorations somehow managed to make the entire ceiling covered with stars, and they even managed to glow. There were only a few lights in the room, but they were all blue and cast a blue-green tint to everything… even though most of it could have been accomplished with the work of everyone and their tummy symbols, it was amazing in her eyes. They even used a smoke machine so everyone would have to walk through a layer of fog at their ankles.

"Um… are you gonna write anything?" Loyal Heart asked.

She jumped, nodding. "Yes. Sorry."

She scribbled down _Mardi Gras_ hurriedly, then passed on the pen. She wasn't very fond of the theme herself, but couldn't think of much. She waited as everyone else wrote down their ideas and soon the hat was passed around again for the second time. She was hoping that her own idea wouldn't be pulled out. Based off of what she knew about Mardi Gras on Earth, it didn't seem like a fitting theme for the Carebears. When the hat reached the drawers, True Heart handed the bag to Noble Heart. Everyone watched anxiously as the purple horse stirred the contents in the hat around, careful as mixing them. He finally raised his paw, ready to pull out a theme. The entire family leaned forward in their seats, hoping to catch a glance of what might be on the paw. Then he finally put his paw in the hat, fishing around for a paper with his eyes closed. Finally, he retrieved one. He smiled, whispering something to True Heart, Tender Heart and Brave Heart. They all seemed to like the idea.

True Heart stood. "Do we have any volunteers for setting up and planning the ball?"

The usual volunteers raised their paws. They were always Share Bear, Harmony Bear, Champ Bear, Loyal Heart, and the famous duo consisting of Love-A-Lot bear and Proud Heart cat. They were always able to make everything look alright for celebrations, and you could rely on the two boys in the group for finishing any task. With them chosen, True Heart smiled. "Alright. You're all free to go, except the volunteers. We have a lot to discuss!"

Those who were excused all stood and left the room, whispering to each other what they thought might be picked, though it was near impossible to truly tell. Gentle Heart looked at the heart-shaped clock before leaving, seeing that it was nearing eight o' clock. She had planned to go visit someone at ten, when a lot of Carebears would be asleep, ready to wake early. She would have better chances visiting at night then in the morning… something she was sure would work much better.

* * *

The castle hallways were near completely dark. No matter how hard she strained her eyes, Gentle Heart could barely catch any glimpses of light. Lightning would light up the castle for momentary seconds every so often, but it wasn't enough. The lamb attempted to shut the massive doors behind her as she stood inside of No Heart's castle. She had never been inside when it was night out. Still, she wouldn't be stopped just because it was dark. She closed her eyes, concentrating. Her tummy symbol glowed a soft pink in response, lighting a few feet around her. It was good enough. She began walking forward in the massive room surrounding her. A pair of shadows floated by, completely ignoring her as she slowly walked. She was sure No Heart would still be around… it's not like he would just leave or anything.

She finally reached the other set of doors, tummy symbol still glowing and she opened it. Maybe if she was lucky she would just happen to meet No Heart of Beastly walking through. But much to her dismay, she spent at least ten minutes wandering around, trying to remember just where No Heart had taken her to when he was in the form of a wolf. The lamb, small compared to all that was around her and the sheer size of the castle, was hopelessly lost. She probably couldn't even turn back if she wanted to now. She groaned, sitting down on a windowsill, trying to remember where she might be. She was in a hallway with many doors on the both sides, but she had been down so many before with the same pattern. Was it possible that she was just walking in circles this entire time?

Her ears perked as she suddenly heard something walking down one of the hallways that the one she was in led to. It sounded like scraping. She made her tummy symbol grow brighter, bright enough to see down the hallway. A familiar short figure only a bit taller than her raised a hand to block the light. "Hey, turn that thing off!"

"Beastly," Gentle Heart said to herself and did lower the brightness of her tummy symbol.

Beastly grumpily kept walking, the claws on his feet making a scraping noise as they hit the stone ground. Gentle Heart watched as he walked right past her, murmuring to himself, something about things being unfair. She blinked. "Um. Beastly… can you take me to No Heart? Please?"

Her voice was very soft compared to the tone of Beastly's when he replied. "Like I care! Why would I want to help out my replacement?"

Not fully understanding, Gentle Heart didn't reply at first. How was she his replacement? "Replacement?"

"Yeah," Beastly placed his hands in his hips, "You must be _really_ smart enough to be No Heart's assistant. It won't be long until I'm kicked out so there's room for you!"

The Care Bear cousin was surprised, usually used to Beastly saying things that make no sense at all. But now he must be so upset that he actually had a point in an argument. "No Heart wouldn't do that."

"_Suuure_, like you know him more than I do," Beastly snapped, "You'd better be lucky that he's on your side, or I'd do… um… something bad to you!"

Then a light seemed to flicker into his eyes, and he smiled deviously. "Yep… _I_ can't do anything to you. Sure, I'll take you to No Heart!"

Gentle Heart didn't like the smile he had one bit. But still, she would have to follow him to No Heart or she'd be hopelessly lost once again. After all, No Heart did say it was his job to make sure she wasn't harmed, and knowing how much he despised Beastly, even Beastly would know how much trouble he would be in. Gentle Heart followed No Heart's assistant through the castle, both not saying anything. After time, she was really beginning to wonder just where Beastly was taking her. Then, luck finally seemed to make itself known.

Beastly turned a corner, and bumped right into something, falling backwards. No Heart growled, ignoring Beastly as he kept walking. "Be more careful of where you're going, fool!"

His assistant scrambled to his feet, standing straight. "You're Carebear is here, b-boss!"

"Then let us be," No Heart snapped, then turning his attention to Gentle Heart. "I see you have changed your mind about when is a good time to be here."

She nodded. "Yeah…"

"Follow me," No Heart said, walking past Beastly.

Gentle Heart followed, and her stomach churned when Beastly actually waved good bye to her in a very cheerful manner. She didn't like that at all, but didn't say anything. No Heart led her though the near black hallways. She was wasn't using her tummy symbol anymore, so she only knew where to go based off of the sound of footsteps of No Heart. She couldn't even know how he could just walk right through his castle without any signs of light aside from the thunder. Then she was taken to a room that she had never been in. She could tell that she wasn't in a hallways when she stepped in, then there was a sudden light as No Heart used magic to light several torches that looked as though they weren't used in ages… based off of his eyesight, he probably didn't even need them. The room was fairly large… and all around her were books. She herself loved reading, but she knew that they weren't books for entertainment. All of the walls of the room were covered in books on shelves… there had to be hundreds!

She craned her neck upwards to see the top of the shelves. There wasn't a single empty space within the shelves.

"You may also spend much time in this room," No Heart said, "You may use all books you see in here, aside from those on the third wall."

She looked at the third wall. The books didn't look any different from the others… but the contents must be different. Gentle Heart didn't ask what they were, but watched as No Heart lifted a hand and a book from the very top shelves of the first wall floated into it. Dust seemed to coat it. "This book contains potion ingredients and instructions. This book has no use to me, and you may soon see why… I give this to you for your own use."

He handed it to her, and she blew some of the dust off of it, and hugged it to her chest almost protectively. She had her own book of potions. Whispering, she said her thanks, actually managing to be greatly touched. "There is more," No Heart answered.

Curious, Gentle Heart looked up. What more was there? He held out his hand, and his amulet glowed as something appeared in it, dangling off of his finger. "If you are going to be a sorceress, you will need your own amulet."

He also handed it to her, and she couldn't say anything at first. Gentle Heart knew that he most likely made it to be useful rather than pretty, but she had own magic amulet. It was on a silver chain that was long enough to fit around her head without having to unhook anything, and the actual amulet was a sky blue gem without a base. No Heart probably didn't see it in the same way, but it was beautiful. The light of the torches caused the light that reflected on the stone to dance. She put it around her neck. "Thank you…"

No Heart gave a slight nod to indicate that he acknowledged her thanks, whether he truly did or not. "I must explain these items. Come…"

She followed him soon to the cauldron room once again, where she soon sat atop the table that was actually on sturdy ground and not the balcony. Much to her luck, the potion book he had given her to keep was much lighter than the previous one, and it wasn't too difficult walking with it. She set it to her side as No Heart motioned towards his amulet. "This amulet, along with the one that I have given, really aren't magical in any way until you actually use it. I'm aware that your family believes this is my source of power… but it isn't."

"Then what's it for?" Gentle Heart asked. She had, in fact, been told that it was No Heart's source of power from Grumpy Bear as he was telling the family an encounter he had with No Heart. She wasn't told the full story, but it was something about the sorcerer turning to a bison and chasing him. That was the story she had always based her opinions of No Heart.

No Heart raised his palm, and the amulet floated into it. "From what you have read, and what I have told you, all magic takes time. Many have incantations or need certain motions to complete. By using an amulet, magic can be used much quicker. Though it isn't the true definition, you can use certain objects to 'store' magic for more convenience."

Gentle Heart looked at her blue amulet, not sure if she completely understood what he meant. But she wasn't the one to say that he was wrong about magic. Truthfully, she would rather actually learn how to perform magic than learn about it. But these things take time. Seeing how her expression wasn't too sure, No Heart once again began explaining the use of amulets more thoroughly. All amulets did was really let the wearer perform magic without having to go through all of the steps of doing so… after some time of repeating the same magic, the amulet would weaken and then the magic would have to be completely performed, and not just the final steps. It was much more easy to understand than she would have thought earlier. She then looked to her side to see the potions book, she pulled it unto her lap, opening to the inside cover. "Why don't you need this anymore?"

"I never had any use for it," No Heart replied in a tone that showed he wasn't very fond of the contents, "I would never use any of the magic, nor will I ever have any interest. You, however, might."

She strained her eyes, looking down the first page. She had to wipe a layer of dust off. He really didn't have any interest in it. She saw the table of contents. They were all potions… but they seemed positive and things that would have the same affects as caring crystals. It was no wonder No Heart wouldn't use it… if caring crystals hurt him, these potions probably would, too.

"Many of the ingredients can actually be found in your Forest of Feelings," No Heart added, "There isn't anything that can happen if the potions weren't able to work, unlike others."

She nodded, shutting the book carefully. It was odd… somehow it seemed as though the enemy of her family was being a bit more considerate than her own family. She quickly shook the thought away… her family cared for her and she knew it. It surprised her that she even thought of such a thing! Still, much to her surprise, it was kind of him to give her the two items, though they both only served as tools for learning magic. "Thanks…"

"Thanks is not needed," No Heart answered in a tone that Gentle Heart wasn't sure of. "You may leave, now. You have my permission to return whenever you desire, whether it is to actually learn or use the study."

Gentle Heart nodded, now feeling the affects of staying up late. Lately she had been waking up early, so she would need the rest. Just realizing this made her eyelids droop. She heard No Heart stating he would take her to her home, and didn't quite acknowledge it until he transformed to a lightning bolt, causing a blinding flash to light up the room. As the lightning, he struck at her, grabbing her in the process and speeding straight through the window of the cauldron room. It took seconds for her to arrive at her home, and she stood at the front door. She turned around, expecting to see No Heart, but was surprised that he had already left without her knowing. Shrugging it off, she turned around and entered her house.

* * *

"Those are pretty. What are they for?"

Gentle Heart sat in a field within the Forest of Feelings, gathering her ingredients. She looked up, surprised to hear someone's voice and looked behind her to see Friend Bear and Cozy Heart. She blinked, not expecting anyone to be outside on a day like this. The skies were overcast, clouds full of spring rains. She looked down at the flowers within her paws. "They're for… a potion."

"A potion?" Friend Bear smiled.

Gentle Heart nodded, also smiling sweetly. "Yep."

"Sounds like fun," Cozy Heart answered, not really understanding that the potion comment was true. "We're going to the lake. Everyone else is there… do you wanna to join us?"

"No thanks, but I will later," Gentle Heart answered. "I just gotta make this potion really fast. It won't take too long, I'm pretty sure."

"Alright," Friend Bear raised a paw as a goodbye as they walked away, "Feel free to experiment it on Brave Heart! I'm sure no one will mind!"

"I'll consider it. Bye!" Gentle Heart called after the two.

When they disappeared from her sight, she turned her attention back to what was in front of her. Luckily they didn't see the potions book right behind her, though it was alright they all of the other ingredients in a bag were seen. No Heart was right… all of the potion ingredients for the majority of the spell could be found right in her forest. They were mainly bright flowers, and the forest was full of different kinds. Everything was natural, and she wondered if No Heart used the same things for his uncaring potions. She looked back to the list of ingredients and read them aloud. "Handful of apple blossoms…"

She stood, setting the remainder of the recently picked flowers inside of her bag. The potion book must have been written a long time ago, because there weren't exact measurements for the ingredients. She had to compare a lot of things to how humans would find the ingredients… such as the one she must find now. Two of her handfuls would be equal to one human handful. It was fairly easy once she took the time to think about it. And now, her next task would be the last of the ingredients. She knew that the apple blossoms would be in Proud Heart's garden. She had all kinds of fruit-bearing trees in her garden. Soon, she arrived there and gained permission from Proud Heart to take the two handfuls. She set them carefully in the bag full of the others ingredients, thanked Proud Heart and soon was on her way back home.

* * *

Once inside, she excitedly entered her kitchen and carefully placed all of the ingredients out on her counter. She opened the potion book to the page titled 'blossom spell.' Based off of the description, it only had the title based off of how the potion had two main ingredients, both of them being two different fruit blossoms. The potion itself was to make another have a much more temporary, yet positive mood. She knew just who to give it to, also. And it was more of a favor for Grumpy Bear, anyway, not to use him as a guinea pig. Rereading the ingredients and the directions, she made sure for the hundredth time that everything was edible and wouldn't harm who was drinking the potion. Following directions, she selected some of the ingredients, went to the blender and set them and spring water she always had in her fridge together, mixing them. She hunted throughout the rest of her kitchen for the remainder of the ingredients.

Finally, she had all of the ingredients in front of her on the counter along with the blender full of the mixture. It didn't seem very edible at the time. Gentle Heart once again looked down the directions. So far she had done everything right, and mixed things together, adding in the right ingredients at the exact times just to be sure. Finally, within ten minutes, she had everything put together and it sat in the blender. She carefully poured it into an empty water bottle and stared. It really was odd how magic worked. What once looked like a syrupy-ooze now looked like completely clear water. She looked at the directions once again. Now to make everything complete, she would have to say the correct words. She cleared her throat, reading the incantations over. They all seemed to be a different language, though she wasn't sure what exactly it was. Hoping she wasn't mispronouncing anything, she did her best at saying them. Much to her surprise, she must have said the right thing, for the water seemed to flash a faint blue for a moment. Gentle Heart stared at the bottle for a long time, as if waiting for something to happen. Nothing did, so she grabbed the bottle and set in the fridge, smiling in success. "I'll be back for you later," she said as if it could hear her, then shut the door, remembering her promise to go to the lake with Friend Bear and Cozy Heart.

* * *

Gentle Heart arrived at the lake, surprised to see nearly all of her family there. Even though the water was normally cold at this time of the year, a few others aside from Cozy Heart were actually inside for a change. She walked down, slightly wishing she would have brought the potion, because sure enough, Grumpy Bear was also there, looking like his usual bitter self sitting to the side of the water, trying to be coaxed inside by Cozy Heart. She made her way down to the water edge. "Hi, Cozy Heart."

"Hey!" Cozy Heart greeted her, swimming over. "Wanna come in? The water's warm!"  
"It's always warm to you," Gentle Heart smiled, experimentally poking her foot in. It was nearly freezing. She was surprised that anyone else aside from Cozy was even inside. "On second thought… I don't think I will."

"Aww, you're no fun. If you want to, those guys over there thought that they're clever by heating up the pool and using it as a hot tub," she said, using her flipper to point behind her.

"Heating it?" Gentle Heart asked.

"With their tummy symbols," Cozy Heart answered. "It takes out all the fun of being in water if you're just sitting there and not swimming, thought!"

"Sounds like it would feel good," Gentle Heart answered and said goodbye to Cozy Heart.

Even though her penguin friend didn't seem to fond of the idea, Gentle Heart walked over to the other side of the lake, where a group of her friends sat in one of the very small ponds next to the waterfall that gave the lake it's water. Only unlike the lake, their small pond of water actually steamed. Playful Heart looked up, lounging in the water. "Hey! Wanna join us?"

Gentle Heart didn't notice him before. She suddenly didn't feel so motivated to get inside anymore. But then she noticed everyone else staring at her with puppy-dog eyes. And to make matters worse, Loyal Heart was the champion at making those adorable eyes, and he just happened to be inside. She couldn't say no. She forced herself to smile. "Sure."

Since Care Bears and Cousins didn't need bathing suits, she didn't have to wait and carefully hopped inside. Surprisingly, it was a lot warmer than the other water. In fact, it was almost too warm for her, but soon grew accustomed to it. She sat where there was the last empty space left… right between Playful Heart and Love-A-Lot Bear. Not a good combination. Treat Heart was the first to notice the knew accessory Gentle Heart wore. "That's a pretty necklace! Where'd you get it?"  
"I went on a caring mission, and a girl gave me this a present. She had one just like it… it's a friendship necklace," Gentle Heart responded, holding the blue amulet within her paw. This time, it couldn't hurt too much just to say a small little lie. She looked down at the water, feeling the temperature drop.

"You're turn," Loyal Heart said to Love-A-Lot.

The magenta bear made her tummy symbol glow, and a rainbow came from it, not only lighting the small pond but heating it. Soon, it was back to warm and more comfortable. Gentle Heart closed her eyes, sinking farther into the water. This was very comfy. Then she heard Love-A-Lot clear her throat. "So. Who's going with who to the Spring Ball?"

Gentle Heart didn't open her eyes, deciding to not say anything.

"We still have a few weeks," Loyal Heart answered, "We haven't even come up with a full idea on how the Hall of Hearts would be decorated."

"Is the theme good?" Share Bear asked.

Loyal Heart nodded. "I think everyone will like it."

Gentle Heart also never put thought into who she would go with. Partners to the ball were a boy and a girl type of thing, but everyone usually went as friends. She could already think who might be going with who, based off of all of the partners for the past three balls. Champ Bear and Cheer Bear always went together, Birthday Bear and Wish Bear did, and so did Lotsa-Heart and Treat Heart. They all went as friends. Gentle Heart herself had gone the first year with Bright Heart, the second with Funshine and the third with Playful Heart. The third year had been fun… maybe she could do it again. Realizing what she had thought, she only sunk further into the water. That would be too weird… knowing that Playful Heart liked her more than a friend. But it was hard not being able to like him how she used to. She had always spent a lot of time with him, and it was very fun then. But now, she knew that he saw her more than just a friend, and all of that time might have been him and his funny ways of flirting. They were still kind of cute, in a way, how he would come up with jokes just for her when she was feeling down. Catching herself again, she slid farther down, not even realizing that she would have her nose underwater.

She jumped, realizing this too late and coughed what small amount of water she had breathed in. It grew quiet as she coughed, and she tried to stop herself, but couldn't and instantly began to blush.

"Are you okay?" Playful Heart questioned, actually looking concerned that she only breathed in a bit of water.

"I'm… fine…" she said through fits of coughing, and then finally began to quiet down, much to her relief.

Gentle Heart sat back down, still blushing. She felt incredibly stupid for not even realizing her mouth and nose was that close to the water. Love-A-Lot grinned. "That was nice of you, Playful Heart. You seemed really worried."

He was about to open his mouth to say some joke and laugh it off, before Treat Heart cut in. "I wouldn't be surprised if he was more worried for others, after so many had worried for him! But the only thing that happened was his butt got bruised!"

Playful Heart frowned, sinking into the water. "It wasn't my fault…"

"Sure, it wasn't your fault that you decided to hang from a heart decoration and bust your tail falling from it," Loyal Heart chimed in.

Playful Heart grinned. "And I'd do again, too!"

"Sure you would," Love-A-Lot laughed, "The water's getting cold… it's you turn, Share."

The purple bear sat straight, and used her tummy symbol once again to heart up the water. It once again began to steam, and raised in temperature. Gentle Heart wondered why no one had thought of this before. It wouldn't be too much fun getting out of the water though, where the air would probably be cold. Then something caught her attention, and it was the last thing she would want to hear at the time.

_"Oh, Carebears!"_

Everyone looked up at once to see Beastly standing on a rock proudly, in a noble stance. He grinned as everyone just stared, not exactly knowing what he wanted. Beastly cleared his throat, pulling something out from behind his back. "Look what I found! And it was in your cousin friend's little house, too!"

With that, he started laughing almost maniacally. Gentle Heart gasped, seeing the water bottle in his hand that he held up for everyone to see. She knew instantly he had gone inside her house to get the potion! Her mind instantly remembered something he had said the previous night within the castle… "I _can't do something to you."_ She clenched her paws into fists. He must think that he could get her family to hate her and turn against her, so he wouldn't have to get in trouble by No Heart!

"This, my Carebear friends, is a potion!" Beastly explained, sounding very proud of himself of his discovery, "And I have found it in your Forest of Feelings! Heh… you're gonna love this! One of your family members is going behind you back and-"

At this time, Gentle Heart nearly leaped out of the pond, shoving others aside in the process, jumped on the ground, and she fired a cousin call without even taking the time to ready herself. Not only did it knock her off her feet, but the call was strong enough to also send Beastly flying off his own. On the ground, her call faded away as Beastly fell from his rock platform and landed on his back. He put a hand to his head. "Ouch…"

Gentle Heart got to her knees slowly, looking all around where Beastly had fallen for where the bottle had fallen. Then she heard someone also leap out of the water much more smoothly than she had and looked to her right. Playful Heart knelt by her side. "Are you alright?"

Then she looked around seeing that nearly all of her family had witnessed her performing the call. And they all actually looked shock that such a call would come from her. She felt not only a blush begin to form on her face, but a pit of nervousness form in her stomach. "…My call slipped out. I didn't think of what I was doing…"

"It's okay," Playful Heart said, True Heart and Noble Heart also joining them as Brave Heart took on the job of removing Beastly from the Forest of Feelings.

Noble Heart nodded, agreeing with Playful Heart. "It happens to a lot of us, too. Don't worry, my calls just slip out when I'm worried for others, just like what you did."

"Do you think you should go to Take Care Bear?" True Heart asked, "You look a bit shaken up."

She shook her head, still searching for the bottle that Beastly had dropped. At least she was lucky her call had worked… Beastly probably would be too affected by the call to even think about telling Brave Heart about what Gentle Heart had done… she was very thankful for that. Playful Heart helped her to her feet, causing her to blush even more, and Cozy Heart popped out of the water, holding something in her flippers.

"Some potion this is!" she said, tossing it on the shore, "It's just water! That was pretty desperate of him to actually believe we'd think someone in our family would be messing around with potions!"

Treat Heart giggled. "The next thing you know, Grumpy Bear will be dressing up in purple robes and a hood and setting uncaring spells on Care-A lot!"

"Ha, ha," Grumpy Bear growled, rolling his eyes.

Gentle Heart looked nervously at the three, almost thinking they knew what she was doing. But she shook it off. It was jut coincidence that they choice Grumpy Bear… he always tended to be the joke. Playful Heart offered to walk her to her home, and though she tried to assure everyone that she was alright, True Heart and Noble Heart advised that it would be best that he did escort her. She did look pale, and she was shaking. But she wasn't ill in anyway. She had never felt so close to being caught doing something wrong… mainly because she never did do anything wrong.


	8. Morning Grumpiness

**8. Morning Grumpiness **

"I will _skin_ him alive!"

No Heart paced angrily, eyes glowing in anger as Gentle Heart sat on the table on the balcony of the cauldron room. Her muscles almost felt weak she had been so worried of being caught. As soon as arriving home and assuring Playful Heart she was fine, she only took long enough to make a cup of relaxing tea, which she had abandoned, before leaving to his castle. If it was one person she could be truthful to, it would be No Heart. After all, it was he of all people who should have been informed at once.

"The little coward needs to come out of hiding," No Heart growled, "And show his face after his _stunt_… so I can electrocute him into oblivion!"

He stopped, tapping his foot on the stone ground impatiently, anticipating the return of Beastly, wherever Brave Heart taken him. He turned once again to Gentle Heart. "And you are sure that they didn't realize you had made the potion?"

"They only thought it was water in a bottle… they thought Beastly was just bluffing," Gentle Heart answered, fidgeting her leg nervously, though there wasn't much left to be nervous about.

No Heart tapped his claws on the table she sat on, still fuming. "He should feel lucky that both he_ and_ you weren't caught."

Gentle Heart looked down at her paws. It wasn't unobvious that she was being overwhelmed. Two major things happened within the same morning, all of them at least an hour apart. She just needed to relax… but there probably wasn't even any time for that. Then there was another thing… she couldn't stop thinking of what her family had said. She vividly remembered Cozy Heart's exact words of 'that was desperate of him to actually believe we'd think someone in our family would be messing around with potions.' Her family trusted her… and they really didn't have a clue of what she was doing, or what she was doing at this very time. She really was going behind their backs. Gentle Heart had convinced herself that she wasn't only saying anything so they wouldn't worry. Even though she was sure she was doing the right thing, in fact, she was nearly absolutely positive that this was the right thing… it still was a much different feeling than she was used to. Realizing this, she noted to use her magic to try and find out what she was really feeling now, after having been nearly caught. She was brought back in reality by No Heart clenching his hand into a fist, in the process scratching the wood of the table with his dagger nails.

"It's apparent Beastly will not show himself anytime soon," No Heart growled, "Therefore I will find him myself!"

He shifted to the form of a deep purple crow, perched on the edge of the table. Gentle Heart watched as he turned to her. "Your family must not suspect anything… you cannot stop what you have accomplished so far."

Gentle Heart was surprised that he made such a comment. It almost sounded like a command. She actually begun to think that something was amiss before No Heart unfolded his glossy wings and flapped into the air, calling behind him. "Best of luck with your family."

When he flew from the open windows of the cauldron room, she couldn't help but smile, surprised for even thinking he would really be plotting against her after being so helpful...despite what her family truly thought of him. Even though he wasn't completely generous, it still was enough to prove he wouldn't have been lying to her this entire time… right? She once again forced herself to smile. "That's stupid of me…"

Realizing she had to return to Care-A lot, she jumped from the table, landing on shaky legs and concentrated enough to form a cloud car. Climbing in, she just wanted to go where Noble Heart and True Heart thought she was it… home.

* * *

The bright Forest of Feelings sunlight shined in through open windows, a light breeze ruffling the fur of all of those in the Hall of Hearts. Gentle Heart carried her tray to one of the tables, stifling a yawn with her free paw, and took a seat next to Cheer Bear. The wind from the opened window blew on her, and she breathed in deeply, enjoying the fresh air of Care-A lot. Her taking a seat seemed to have made everyone at the table quiet.

Cheer Bear smiled as cheerfully as she could. "Have a good morning, Gentle Heart?"

"Mhmm," the lamb softly replied, opening her eyes to respond to Cheer Bear so it wouldn't appear as though she was ignoring her.

"Um… are you _okay_?" Birthday Bear blurted, only curious as what to happened the other day. The result was Playful Heart nudging him, hinting that it wasn't a very good subject.

She nodded, smiling as though to prove that if she was capable of doing that, she would be perfectly fine. She poked her fried egg with her plastic fork, causing the yolk to run. "Has True Heart or Noble Heart said anything about the ball?"

"No," Cheer Bear answered, aware that the lamb was only asking this to change the subject, "But I bet it's going to be fun! I can't wait to help out everyone make their dresses! I'm already helping out Harmony, Wish and Proud Heart. Do you think that green clashes with Proud Heart's fur? Because she doesn't think so and it really does!"

Everyone just shrugged, the majority of them not too interested in design or knowing what clashed with what. Playful Heart jabbed at his pancakes with his fork, trying to find a good place to lift them up by. "Shouldn't you wait until you actually know what the theme is?"

"What's wrong with you?" Birthday grinned, elbowing the monkey in the side, "You aren't doing handstands on the chair or burping every two seconds! Something must be terribly wrong!"

"I'm just asking," Playful Heart replied and shoved more pancakes in his mouth, talking through it. "Besides, the wind was really loud last night and I couldn't sleep."

"No, it wasn't!" Treat Heart pointed out.

Swallowing, Playful Heart just grumbled something about how she doesn't fall asleep in a tree house. Gentle Heart decided not to pay too much attention, minding her own business. The question she had asked everyone was now even making her think. Every year, she usually had help from True Heart to make her dress… she wasn't very talented when it came to sewing and matching colors. Maybe this year she could give True Heart a break and attempt to make her own dress. She couldn't help but groan as she realized that she couldn't… she'd probably be too wrapped up in learning magic and getting that under control. Gentle Heart rested her head in her paw. She was very well aware that she was being bitter lately, but just blamed it on lack of sleep. After all, it was usually in the mornings when she was acting this way. As if to answer the question that her table had been wondering about, Tender Heart walked into the Hall of Hearts, clearing his throat. "Um. Excuse me…"

Though he was fairly quiet and the Hall of Hearts was loud, he still managed to catch everyone's attention. "Since it's been concluded that we're able to do the theme this year we have first selected, there will be a meeting at the Hall of Hearts tonight at seven. You'll be told what the theme is."

"Perfect!" Love-A-Lot said, "Now we can think of our costumes. Well, I'm gonna see Tender Heart."

She left the table, and Gentle Heart couldn't help but curiously look at the two. She didn't know if they were dating or not, but Love-A-Lot _had_ said that Tender Heart admitted to liking her. As the two spoke, she felt rude for being do intrusive and turned back to her tray. So far, she didn't have much planned for the day. She was considering attempting to remake the potion she had tried to make the day after last, but wasn't too sure of it. She had yet to completely flip through the book… maybe she could even go to No Heart's castle and try to look through any of those other spell and potions books, aside from the ones he had informed her not to use. She may be able to accomplish all of these before the Care Bear meeting if she didn't have any caring missions, which she most likely would.

Gentle Heart stood, tray in her paws. "I've got to… go to tummy symbol practice."

"But it's a Sunday," Cheer Bear reminded her, "We never have practices today."

"Oh," Gentle Heart said, not realizing this herself, "Then I might as well go home and relax."

"Have fun," Birthday Bear called, not able to see the fun in just laying around all day.

* * *

Gentle Heart arrived at home, her own windows open to also let the soft breezes flow throughout her house. She walked into her room to the closet, kneeling down to push aside several spare blankets inside to reach the two books No Heart had let her use. Even though not too many bears or cousins came to her house on a daily basis, she still wanted to be careful. Pulling them unto her lap, she sat back on the soft carpet. Though it hadn't been long since the Beastly incident, she still couldn't help but be interested in what No Heart was showing her. Opening the potions book, she flipped to the bookmarked page of the potion she had intended to give to Grumpy Bear. She stared for a long time at it. Should she really try to make the potion again? What were the chances of Beastly actually bothering to try and blow her cover? She was sure that No Heart had found Beastly wherever he had been hiding, and taught him a lesson.

Gentle Heart shut the book, determining that she might as well finish what she had already started later. She slid the first book back into the closet beneath the blankets, and then opened the much larger book with half of its contents being in other languages. She flipped through, not quite sure of what she was looking for. There were all types of magic, spells and potions in this book, but it all merely explained it. Though she had been told that learning magic took patience, she would rather be actually performing it than reading about it. Something caught her eye, and she stopped on a particular page. Gentle Heart wasn't sure why the page caught her attention compared to the others, it looking just like all of the others. She squinted to read the fading handwriting to make out the two words of _Dream Walking_. She used her finger to scan down the page, skimming the contents. From what small fragments she read, it was actually being able to enter your dreams. She flipped to the page before it, curious as to see what it might be related to. Oddly enough, it was the first form of magic that No Heart had ever taught her.

She turned back to the dream page, interested, for it must had some connect to the magic that No Heart had shown her. But then she looked up, hearing someone knocking at her door. She creased the upper right corner of the page, shutting the book and carefully hiding it under the spare blankets along with the other potions book. She went to the doors, opening it to see no other than Grams Bear. "Hi, Grams."  
"Good morning, Gentle Heart," the gray bear answered sweetly, "I really hate to bother you so early, but I need someone to watch the cubs this morning… I have to have a talk with Noble and True Heart about the ball. I thought you were perfect for the job."

Although she was a bit frustrated that this would happen when she planned to spend time on learning, she couldn't refuse. "Sure. When should I go?"

"Actually, I learned of this little meeting a bit late," Grams explained, "Would it be too much to say that they need a babysitter this moment?"

Gentle Heart forced a smile. "Of course not. I'll go right now."

"Thank you so much, Gentle Heart, you're a real sweetie," Grams Bear said while waving as she walked to her cloud car.

The lamb sighed as she finally left, using her call to make a cloud car of her own. She hopped inside, shutting the door behind her. She shouldn't be getting annoyed of the favor Grams had asked her of, but couldn't help it. She was being irritable, like she had noticed this morning, but once again blamed it on having to get up so soon. She made her way to Care-A lot, thinking of what time she may have left to at least try to make the potion again.

* * *

Gentle Heart sat in a chair, but she couldn't stand. It may be because she was strapped to the chair by a jump rope. Hugs and Tugs walked over from the kitchen, Tugs dressed in a white vest that made him look like a doctor. Or in his case, a mad scientist. Hugs walked next to him in the same outfit, playing the role as the assistant. Tugs pointed at Gentle Heart still strapped to the arm chair in the living room. "I've finally done it! I've made a monster, and I can bring it to life!"

"Good goody gosh! Er… I mean, my goodness, how did you do it?" Hugs asked, feigning shock.

Gentle Heart swung her legs in the seat, not quite as into the game as Hugs and Tugs. The blue cub cleared his throat. "Um. Simple! I just… found it. And now I'll bring him – _her_ to life!"

"But Frankenstein is a boy," Hugs pointed out.

"Not this one!" Tugs replied, "Fire up the henerator!"

"Generator," Gentle Heart couldn't help but say.

"Right, what she said!" Tugs answered, and Hugs went over to a lamp pulling the strong to indicate that she had 'fired up the generator.'

Then all three of them looked to once to see three Carebears walk inside. Gentle Heart had never been so thankful to see Grams and Noble and True Heart. The three smiled, looking at Gentle Heart strapped down into the arm chair. Much to her thanks, Noble Heart walked over and freed Gentle Heart. "I bet you three have been having fun!"

"Yep," Gentle Heart answered, sounding much more enthusiastic than she really was. In fact, her back was fairly sore from sitting in the same position for such a long time.

Hugs and Tugs took off their mad scientist jackets, trying to look innocent for Grams. The gray Carebear smiled. "And I'm sure that you two weren't doing anything you weren't supposed to be."

"That's right," Hugs nodded, "We were good and planned Frankenstein!"

"Sounds fun. Well, it's close to lunch time so we better get started on making some sandwiches," Grams Bear said, "Would you like to stay and join us?"

While Noble Heart and True Heart agreed to do so, Gentle Heart insisted that she would only be making Grams Bear work more at making lunch when it wasn't necessary. As she walked from the living room and after saying her goodbyes, she took a glance at the clock on the wall to see that she had spent two hours looking after Hugs and Tugs. Now it was noon, and it still gave her enough time for the day. Glad that her mission of looking after the cubs was complete, she headed outside and created a cloud car with her tummy symbol. Hopefully, she wouldn't have any distractions now.

As she was walking out of the door, True Heart tapped her on the shoulder. Gentle Heart turned around, expecting to be lured back into lunch. Instead, the white Carebear had a concerned smile. "Gentle Heart?"

"Yes…?" The lamb asked, almost immediately thinking that it may have had something to do with Beastly and the potion mix up. Her stomach almost did a flip when thinking about this.

"You may not realize this, or anyone else in the family, but Noble Heart and I are in fact aware of gossip," she said, "And I just want to say that sometimes ignoring others emotions can make conflict begin. Sometimes it's best to confront someone who sees you in a different way than you see him – _them_, I mean."

Gentle Heart blinked. She had no idea what she was talking about. "Huh?"

True Heart put a paw on her shoulder with a smile. "Love-A-Lot and Proud Heart, the infamous match-makers of the Kingdom of Caring _can_ be right, you now. It's about time we begin to find new feelings inside ourselves, too. Even Carebears and cousins can be confused about their own feelings toward one another… so live up to your name and be gentle about it."

Now with more understanding, Gentle Heart thought intently of what she had said. "Thanks, True Heart."

True Heart smiled. "It's what I do best. Is it something uncomfortable to you?"

Gentle Heart shuffled her foot on the ground. "I guess so…"

"Just remember, patience is the key," True Heart said, "And remember, some things may turn out how you might not think they will."

The lamb blinked, not knowing the full meaning of the last sentence True Heart had said. Still, she had things to do today.

* * *

Grumpy Bear laid beneath the Rainbow Rescue Beam controls, working furiously. Gentle Heart kneeled down beside him. "Grumpy Bear?"

The blue Carebear jumped a mile high, banging his forehead against the controls, he pushed himself out from underneath on his scooter, and put a paw to his abused forehead. "How great to see you, too, Gentle Heart."

Despite the sarcastic tone Grumpy Bear had, Gentle Heart smiled, concluding that she was in fact doing him a favor. Oil was splattered all over his face, and she could make out darker spots beneath his fur from having hit his head many other times. "Is there something wrong with the beam?"  
"Well, if Brave Heart was to come from the beam rather than Friend Bear, would you consider there was something wrong?" Grumpy Bear asked, grabbing a cloth to his side and wiping more oil off his face carefully, being sure not to jab any of his bruises.

Gentle Heart looked down at the bottle in her hand. "Well, I thought that you could use this. It's kind of hot in here."

"Hot? It feels like I'm on fire!" Grumpy complained, taking the water Gentle Heart was offering him.

Though it appeared to be water, it truly was what he would have least expected for it to be. Gentle Heart had spent less than an hour at least making it, and now she could finally see if she was at least capable of making potions work. As the book had said, if the potion itself didn't work, there luckily wouldn't be any side effects. Grumpy Bear had already finished half the bottle on his first swig and now set it down. Gentle Heart couldn't help but stare, smiling, waiting if there would be any noticeable signs that the potion was working. Grumpy raised an eyebrow. "What?"  
"Nothing," Gentle Heart quickly said, "I just lost my focus."

Rather disappointed, she stood and began walking out of the room. The lamb stared at the white and pink tiles. She was sure that it would work. She reached the door, hearing Grumpy continue to work on the gears and mechanics on the Rescue Beam behind her. She reached a paw forward, opening the door. Maybe potions just weren't meant to be used by her. Then she heard a bang, louder than the previous one, and she whirled around to see if Grumpy Bear was alright. Sure enough, he was leaning up against the controls, cradling his head in his paw with a dazed smile. She rushed to his side. "Grumpy Bear! Are you alright?"

He nodded, looking as though he was seeing stars. "That really hurt!"  
"You sure sound very cheerful about it," she commented as she raised his paw from his forehead to see if he was alright. Then she thought of the words that had just escaped her lips. "Are you happy about it?"

"Why shouldn't I be?" He laughed, "At least you're here for company. Wow, this headache is so bad I think I might need some pain relievers!"

Though Grumpy was in obvious pain to the point where he needed medicine, she couldn't help but smile as she helped to pull him unto his feet. She draped an arm around her shoulder though there was quite a height difference. "You should go to Take Care Bear's office, then. I'll take you there."

"Thanks," Grumpy said, "And sorry for being mean earlier… I don't know what got into me!"

"Is your vision blurred?" Take Care Bear questioned Grumpy. When he shook his head, she put a paw to her chin, "Are you seeing double?"

Grumpy sat on the edge of one of the beds in Take Care's office. She was rather confused, unlike Gentle Heart, as to what made Grumpy so suddenly cheerful when he'd normally be complaining and whining. The red bear looked at Gentle Heart. "So he just sat up and hit the controls?"

She nodded. "I heard it."

Take Care once again rested her paw in her chin. "That's odd. Usually when people are hit bad enough that they are dazed, it's usually a sign of a concussion. Grumpy sure is acting different, but he doesn't have any other signs of a concussion at all, or anywhere near it."

She examined Grumpy Bear once again, who just smiled. "I'm just glad that Gentle Heart cared enough to walk me over here. That was very nice… and it's just so nice of you to have so much concern over my health!"

Take Care couldn't help it any longer. A smile appeared on her features. "That hit he had taken must have really rattled him up! I can't say I've ever seen him this cheerful!"

She soon left to get the pain relievers that Grumpy Bear had requested, heading to a cupboard in her office. Gentle Heart hadn't stopped smiling since she first saw Grumpy show any signs of being cheerful. Her potion had actually worked! Just months ago, she wouldn't have even thought of even trying to make anything like a potion, and here she was now actually performing magic! Grumpy Bear sat on the edge of the bed, twiddling his thumb while humming a joyful tune. Gentle Heart was already excited to seeing No Heart another time! Take Care Bear soon returned, a plastic cup in one paw with medicine in the other. "Here you go, Grumpy."

"Thanks!" Grumpy said rather affectionately, pausing from his humming to swallow the two pills.

"Here's the rest," Take Care said, handing him the bottle, "Take two every four hours if it's really bothering you that much. If you feel nauseas or you become dizzy, visit me. Try to get someone else to drive you here if you can."

"That's so nice of you!" Grumpy stated, soon trapping Take Care in a hug.

"I'm just doing my job…" Take Care said confusedly.

Grumpy Bear stood before the red bear insisted that he sat down. When doing so, Take Care Bear motioned Gentle Heart to join her in a storage room for medicine. Not exactly sure of what Take Care wanted to say, Gentle Heart followed. The red bear cleared her throat, scratching the back of her head. "I was being kind of funny about it earlier, but now I think of it, I think something might be a bit serious. He's acting much too out of character. I've hardly seen anyone act this way after hitting their head. Now, he might answer this wrong because he seems to care more for others than himself right now, so I want to ask you something instead. Do you know if there was anything in the room at the time, like paint or chemicals? Like window cleaners and things like that?"

"I'm pretty sure there wasn't," Gentle Heart asked, figuring that these were medical related things she would never understand.

"Alright," Take Care said, thinking. "Do you know if he ate or drank anything that just _might_ have been around chemicals before he began work on the Rescue Beam?"

"No!" Gentle Heart answered, instantly regretting that she said it so hurriedly and in that particular tone. Because looking at Take Care Bear, she could tell that the bear wasn't sure of the answer. "…I mean, at least since I was there."

The red bear sighed. "If you say so. Would you mind offering Grumpy a ride home? I don't want to miss any other patients."

"Sure," Gentle Heart said.

She was lucky to have escaped that so easily. Not only did she do a good thing for herself by proving she was capable of making a potion, but she gave Grumpy a chance to finally be happy! She once again went to the infirmary, helping Grumpy stand and walk him outside to his home. The blue bear still had the same distant look in his eyes, and he seemed to stagger instead of walk. Gentle Heart still couldn't stop smiling though. It didn't matter that Grumpy Bear hit his head, he was probably too happy to think about the pain! Then Gentle Heart realized what she had thought, and she almost tripped in disbelief. However, from her small stagger, it was enough for Grumpy to fall completely into the clouds.

Grumpy sat up. "Hey, that kind of hurt, too!"

Gentle put a paw to his mouth and instantly helped him up. "I'm so sorry!"

He just chuckled. "It's alright, it was probably my fault anyway."

The entire walk to his home was silent. Gentle Heart continued to think of the awful thing she had thought of minutes ago about poor Grumpy Bear hitting his head. Suddenly, she felt terrible for even trying the potion on him in the first place. Grumpy finally reached his home, and slowly opened the door. "Thanks for walking with me," he grinned, "It wouldn't have been as fun without you."

With that said, he suddenly hugged her very tightly for a good few seconds then went inside without a word. Gentle Heart stood at his porch for a minute, thinking of what she had done to Grumpy Bear. She dreaded the time that the potion wore off and he actually would be feeling the full pain of hitting his head. The lamb slowly exhaled, and decided that she should spend the rest of the day at home.

* * *

It was another dull, dark spring day. The clouds were a bit squishy and damp from the own clouds of Care-A lot mixing with regular clouds. It wasn't very fun trying to walk in half dry and half wet clouds… it felt like wallowing through mud. To some Carebears and cousins, this is the most disgusting experiences, yet to others, it was actually fun. Gentle Heart lamb had an expression that looked like she was going to be sick as she made her way through the clouds, trying to find the driest spots. When she stepped down, her foot would sink into wet clouds with an unpleasant _squish_. She shuddered, suddenly wishing she had breakfast at home instead of going to the Hall of Hearts. Gentle Heart wasn't even sure herself why she decided to come… she had woken up a bit sour for no apparent reason and was annoyed by the smallest things, such as when her shower took a bit of time to change from cold to hot. Or maybe it was because the meeting scheduled for last night had to be cancelled and moved to early this morning on account of an urgent caring mission Noble and True Heart had to do.

Now, she had reached the door but suddenly felt the same feeling underneath her feet suddenly hit her directly on the back. She yelped, and whirled around. Funshine and Playful Heart had both decided to take advantage of the half and half clouds of Care-A lot. Now Funshine was laughing hard, rolling on the wet ground and sinking in farther with each roll, while Playful Heart just tired to subdue his giggles and pointed at Funshine. "It was his idea…"

Gentle Heart just shot them an agitated glare. "Why'd you do that?"

Playful Heart seemed to sink further into the clouds underneath her gaze. "It wasn't me…"

Funshine Bear sat upright, and only everything past his mid-stomach could be seen above the clouds. He still giggled a bit, but managed to stop. "I couldn't help myself… cheer up, Gentle Heart! You can join us in the clouds!"

With that said, he pulled a ball of the cloud out and rolled it, so it almost looked like a snowball dripping with rainwater. "We can have a round of rain-ball fighting!"

He hurled the rain-ball at Playful Heart, and it smacked him right in the face, exploding with water. The monkey shook his head to get the water off, and then began to form his own weapon of cloud and water. He aimed it, pausing. "Want to join us, Gentle Heart?"

"No!" She snapped, heading inside and slamming the door shut.

Both Playful Heart and Funshine dropped their jaws in shock at what Gentle Heart had done. Not once before had they seen her actually slam something that hard, or even slam anything to begin with, let alone talk so acidly to anyone. Inside, there was the same reaction as Gentle Heart walked into line, rainwater dripping into her eyes from where the water had exploded into her wool as a result from the rain-ball. She stood next to Good Luck Bear, and he blinked. "Did you trip?"

"No," she responded in the same tone as before, "Funshine hit me with a rain-ball from the clouds."

Good Luck Bear even jumped a bit, hearing her tone. "Gentle Heart, are you feeling alright?"

"Never been better," she answered dryly and hurriedly filled her tray.

She shook her head, attempting to get some rain water from her wool and then sat down at a table with the usual bears and cousins who preferred the spot. Only table, a few of the squeamish bears were at home, not wanting to walk through the rain clouds. So today, only a few were there, including Brave Heart lion, Treat Heart, Birthday Bear, Love-A-Lot and Cheer. Everyone said their 'good mornings' to Gentle Heart, who just looked at her eggs. "Whose turn was it to make the eggs this morning?"

"Um… Share Bear, I think," Cheer said, "Isn't she good when it's her turn?"

The lamb scooted the tray away from her. "Well, she undercooked the eggs so now I can go without breakfast. I knew I should have stayed home."

Everyone just blinked, not knowing what had gotten into her. Brave Heart cleared his throat. "Um, Gentle Heart? Are you feeling well?"

"Why is everyone asking me that?" Gentle Heart asked.

As she said this, they could hear the familiar sound of the caring meter drop one point. This was something that you grew used to in the Kingdom of Caring, and it wasn't their job at the time to see where it had come from. Love-A-Lot, trying to be cheerful, smiled. "You're beginning to sound like Grumpy Bear!"

"It's not funny." Gentle Heart mumbled sourly.

Brave Heart glanced as the caring meter went down another point. "Gentle Heart, are you sure you're alright? It looks like you need some rest."

"I'm fine," she answered quickly, "I have to wait for that meeting. How long until it starts?"

"Half an hour," Birthday said, "I just got the perfect idea! For the meeting, you should come in and just start yelling like you're _really_ angry! Not only will it let you vent some anger, but it would be the perfect joke to do! No one would expect for Gentle Heart lamb to yell!"

She stood from the table. "But I'm playing a joke now! I'd be better off waiting in the Castle of Caring where people don't tease me. Bye."

As she said this, the reaction from her table was similar to that of Playful Heart and Funshine. She stood, and left the Hall of Hearts, not bothering to take her tray. It was odd, because before she had always taken her tray so she wouldn't have to make any others do any extra work by putting it away for her, let alone snap at her own family. Brave Heart was especially worried, for he knew just how shy and quiet she was, and how this was a drastic change. As Gentle Heart walked out of the room, she walked by Bright Heart experimenting with the mechanics of a hand-held caring meter with Grumpy Bear. However, as soon as she walked by it, the caring meter began to beep shrilly and loudly, causing her to jump.

Bright Heart seemed just as confused as she. "That's weird."

"Can you _please _turn that thing off?" Gentle Heart asked rather annoyingly.

Bright Heart blinked, turning the switch to 'off.' He gave her an odd look. "Sure, Gentle Heart. Sorry."

She walked from the Hall of Hearts and back into the rain clouds. She didn't take her time and just walked right through without showing any signs of disgust, and made her way past Playful Heart and Funshine. Playful Heart bounced to her side. "Are you okay?"

She looked at him like she didn't have any time to talk. "Why shouldn't I be?"

Gentle Heart walked away, leaving Playful Heart speechless. It wasn't long until she stopped walking, realization hurting her. She put both paws to her mouth, nearly horrified at what she had done. Gentle Heart turned around and began running, each footstep leaving a sinking squish, and she finally was back to Playful Heart and Funshine. She panted from running the short distance, for it required much more strength when the clouds were wet enough for your feet to sink in. "I'm…sorry!"

Playful Heart managed to smile. "It's okay. Everyone is like that when they first wake up."

Funshine rolled over, dripping with water. "Does this mean you'd join us in our rain-ball game?"

Gentle Heart couldn't help but smile, relieved that they would be kind enough to forgive her over something so hurtful. She shook her head. "I need to apologize to some others really fast. And I've been wet enough this morning."

She went inside, and spotted the table she had been sitting at. Along the way, she stopped Good Luck and also said her apologies for snapping at him in the line for breakfast. He also forgave her. Now, Gentle Heart made her way to the table she usually sat at and took a seat. Everyone seemed to be confused at why she had come back so soon. Softly, ashamed of herself, she mumbled out "I'm really sorry."

"Don't worry about," Brave Heart answered before all others, "It's just this weather. A lot of us get a bit cranky just by looking at those gray skies!"

Gentle Heart still didn't feel like she deserved to be forgiven so easily this time. She was shocked herself at what she had said. The scary thing was that at the time, she saw nothing wrong with it. Cheer Bear smiled. "Do you want to try and have breakfast with us again? I bet Share Bear did a bit better on the eggs this time."

Gentle Heart nodded with a small smile. "Thanks…"

She stood and once again headed for the line, also suddenly realizing how hungry she was. Maybe it was both this and having to wake up early that made her so cranky. As she thought this, Bright Heart motioned her over to him. She walked to his side and opened her mouth to also apologize to him, but he spoke first. "Can you stand like that for just a second?"

The lamb blinked. "Uh… sure."

Bright Heart had the hand-held caring meter in one paw, and used the other to flip the switch so it was on. As soon as he did so, the arrow began to flick back and forth, and it once again began to beep loudly. Gentle Heart winced at the piercing sound, and it alone grabbed the attention of a few Care Bears and cousins. Bright Heart put a paw to his chin. "Alright… can you walk just a bit over to the breakfast line?"

She nodded and did so. Only after a few paces, the meter stopped beeping so loudly and suddenly seemed to die out. Gentle Heart watched as Bright Heart scratched behind his ear thoughtfully. "Okay… come back to where you were."

The lamb suddenly realized a few of her family members were looking on in interest, causing her to swallow, yet she still walked back to where she had once stood. Only within feet of where she was, the meter beeped loudly. Bright Heart nodded. "I think I know what's going on!"

Gentle Heart once again gulped nervously. "What is it?"

"In that necklace of yours," Bright Heart motioned to her magic amulet, "There might be some properties or minerals in it that set off the meters. I don't know why or how, but they might be picking up on some of them. Do you think I could have a look at it sometime?"

He turned the beeping meter off, and Gentle Heart thought carefully. Finally, she decided it would be okay as long as she hadn't used it to hold magic so far and agreed to let him do so. She took it off from around her neck and handed it to Bright Heart. _It's only because it's been around No Heart_, Gentle Heart thought as Bright Heart thanked her for lending the necklace to him, _Things turned weird and uncaring when Dark Heart was around, so why not No Heart?_

* * *

"Thank you all for attending this meeting so early in the morning," True Heart said as she stood at the head of the table, "We have two things to discuss!"

The Hall of Hearts table was completely full, no one having missions at the time. Everyone began to talk to one another, wondering what the theme could be for the Spring Ball. True Heart raised her paws to settle everyone down, and took her seat. "First of all, we'd like to thank for all of your participation, and all of your ideas were creative and would be just as fun as any other. Noble Heart, would you like to do the honors?"

The horse nodded, cleared his throat and also stood. "This Spring Ball, we are happy to say that the theme is…"

Playful Heart started a drum roll on the table, others soon joining in. Noble Heart took his time, drawing out the suspense and finally motioned for the drum roll to end. "…Renaissance!"

"PERFECT!" Cheer Bear bounced up. "The dresses will be great!"

Everyone began to talk excitedly, all ready planning out what their costumes might be for the ball. Though everyone was very excited and talkative, True Heart still stood. "Alright, calm down for just a moment… remember! The decorations are going to be kept a secret, so I just want to advise that you don't harass the helpers about what might match with your costumes and so on…"

Proud Heart nudged her in the side. "Did you choose that idea?"

She shook her head. "I think Harmony chose it."  
The cat then smiled. "So, now do you think you'll know who you're going with?"

Gentle Heart exhaled, amazed at just how determined Proud Heart was. "No, not yet. Do you?"

"Brave Heart," she purred, "I think you should go with Playful Heart?"

Gentle Heart opened her mouth to respond, but now Noble Heart calmed everyone down. The horse once again stood to have everyone's attention. "I know everyone is excited, but we mustn't waste time. We have one last issue to discuss. As you might have noticed, No Heart isn't being as hostile as before."

Gentle Heart didn't say anything, but looked at everyone's reactions. It looked like they had been noticing recently. Still, Noble Heart continued, "There had only been one shadow attack this entire month when there are usually a couple! Beastly has only been here once, also, when he usually pesters us everyday. Shrieky had left No Heart's castle, I presume, because she usually caused trouble every minute of day and night in the Kingdom of Caring."

"Isn't that a good thing, though?" Swift Heart asked, "I bet he's finally given up! It's about time!"

The purple horse sighed. "I wish it was that way, but knowing No Heart, he doesn't give up without a fight. I'm just pointing out that he may be spending time planning for an attack, and that we should all be on our toes and not take it too easy and assume that everything will go along just fine."

"So what do we do?" Loyal Heart asked.

True Heart then stood. "Just be aware of things happening around you, we have no idea what No Heart is up to, so be cautious. You're all dismissed… it won't be long until caring missions start."

Everyone stood, beginning to talk. Gentle Heart noticed that almost every conversation was on the ball, and luckily not No Heart. She breathed a sigh of relief. She knew that at the time, No Heart was probably just a joke to the Carebears and cousins, and then even a Spring Ball was more important. They were more concerned about things having to the ball, not things that No Heart could do. As Gentle Heart walked outside, she almost wished that her family had more respect for No Heart. It didn't have to be positive respect… almost like people deciding to live beneath a volcano and now show any respect until that volcano erupts. As she thought this, Cheer Bear bounced over her to ask her about her dress and already begin to plan it out.

It was going to be a long while until the ball…


	9. Little Lies

**9. Little Lies**

Gentle Heart stood in the flickering light of many torches, looking up at the many shelves and rows of thick books of magic. She probably would never be able to walk into the study of No Heart's castle and not have her jaw drop. She suddenly thought of the bad idea of all of the shelves just falling forward at once, and shuddered at the thought. The room was too pretty for it, even though it wasn't exactly glamorous with fashion.

"What is it you wanted to learn of?"

Gentle Heart blinked, realizing she had been staring. She turned to No Heart, a slight blush on her cheeks. "It was called 'Dream Walking' in the book you had given me."

"Ah," No Heart replied.

The lamb, much to her embarrassment, was very short and could hardly even reach the fourth shelf. She would have to be standing on her toes to even reach that shelf. Luckily, No Heart just happened to walk in during her time of need, though it did at first scare her incredibly. Sometimes she wondered how it was possible he could just conveniently show up where she was when she needed him, but didn't say anything. She watched as No Heart waved his hand, and two books floated out from the shelves. They hovered in front of her.

"Thanks," she whispered, reaching out and taking them into her arms.

She had paused, raising a paw to stifle a yawn. It had to be nearing the time she would usually be fast asleep… her eyes were very droopy, and she was only becoming sleepier from staring at the dancing light of the torches. Still, she hadn't been able to do this in quite a while and planned to do it this moment. She walked to the single, long table in the study and set her books on the throne-like chair at the head. Then a thought just happened to cross her mind. "What ever happened to Beastly, No Heart?"

The sorcerer scoffed. "He has learned his lesson. The little fool will not be bothering you again."

Gentle Heart climbed into the chair, then setting the two books on the table. "…What did you do to him?"

"Nothing, sadly," he sighed, "I just used a tree in your Forest as an example of what I would do to him if he ever attempted to try that again. The fire probably died down at least half an hour later."

"Oh," Gentle Heart blinked, not exactly sure if she wanted to know what he did in fact do to the tree. At least it didn't burn down the entire forest, or she would have known of it days ago.

She instead attempted to focus on what was in front of her. She was acting as though what she was looking at was homework when it was really her choice at the time if she wanted to continue. But she had to make this a part of her schedule now. She was becoming too wrapped up lately to even have been at his castle. Once you got used to the darkness at night and the shadows floating by, it actually wasn't that bad of a place. She liked to imagine it used to be a beautiful castle used in the medieval times before No Heart got his claws on it. She read a paragraph, but couldn't comprehend a thing. She was just too tired. Gentle Heart slowly looked up from the book. At least she could stand asking things now. "No Heart?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Can you explain this to me?" Gentle Heart asked, "I really want to learn about it, but I just can't concentrate."

He walked over. "Perhaps you are coming to my castle much later than you should be."

First she wanted to say something along the lines of 'unlike some people, I'm not an insomniac' but only smiled wearily. She rubbed her eyes tiredly. "But everyone knows where I'm always at during the day. They won't know where I am at this time."

"True," No Heart replied, "But if it is magic you wish to learn, you cannot learn it half-asleep."

The lamb let out a sigh, running her paw through her wool. "What should I do? I want to keep learning magic… but I don't want my family to worry. They don't know I'm okay."

He shifted to a cat, pouncing on to the table to thoughtfully sit. The tip of his tail flicked, seeming to spend much time on deciding something. Finally, he made his decision. "It may be possible for me to go to you, rather than you come to my castle."

Gentle Heart blinked. "What?"

"Tell me," he purred, inspecting his claws, "Would it be more suspicious to your family that you would be willingly visiting my home or that I would willingly 'visit' your own home."  
She tapped her fingers on the table. It was possible… "My family is being extra careful now, because they think that you're-"

"Plotting something against you," No Heart cut her off, "I'm aware of the family meeting you went to, and all about it. Perhaps you do not realize just how careful I am. When I do not want to be seen, I am _not_ seen."

Gentle Heart knew that this was true. He was probably very sneaky, and most likely, it wouldn't be too much of a challenge for him to only appear in her home then leave. Some of her friends did occasionally visit her, but not enough for them to disrupt anything. She softly cleared her throat, staring down at the books in front her. "If it's okay with you."

He smirked, leaping down from the table and landing gracefully. "It will be easy… in my case."

He then shifted to his true form. "I will be at your home within the morning. I advise that you do not visit your little friends in the Hall of Hearts… in the meantime, grab your books and I shall take you to your home."

Gentle Heart pulled the two books into her arms and hopped down from the chair. She was dreading that No Heart would appear in her home early in the morning and scaring her to death by waking her. Then the lamb realized she was not only afraid for this, but her home would be too small for him to stand in… after all, he was very tall and she was very short. But then she smiled it off; her ceiling wasn't that low.

Soon, No Heart had taken her to the entrance of her home. The lamb recollected herself, still not able to stand straight after the lightning trips. She turned to thank him, but once again, he already managed to leave without her even noticing. Crickets chirped all around her as she opened the door to her house quietly. "He sure is careful…"

* * *

Gentle Heart awoke with a start to hear her alarm clock beeping loudly. She sat upright, opening her eyes and instantly regretting it when the morning rays shone brightly into her room. The lamb closed her eyes, using one paw to rub her now aching eyes and the other to press the 'snooze' button on her alarm clock. She breathed a sigh of relief when the only noise in her room was birds chirping from outside. She stretched, hearing her back pop loudly, and then walked to the window to open it. A flood of light rushed to her eyes when she opened the curtains, but a refreshing breeze soon greeted her as she opened the window. With a yawn, she rested her elbows against it. Slowly blinking, she could almost feel the bags beneath her eyes and was grateful No Heart was visiting her rather then she going to him late at night. Realizing this, she stood and decided she should use her time before he arrived to do her normal morning routines.

Breakfast only consisted of one slice of toast, which wasn't very filling. Gentle Heart hopped into the shower, hoping that she still had enough time. Minutes later she stepped from the shower, towel drying her wool thoroughly. The bathroom was steamy from all of the hot water, and it felt like she was burning up on the inside. Still, she sat on the edge of the bathtub, staring at the soft floor. She exhaled, feeling incredibly dehydrated, but deciding not to do anything to solve the problem. The lamb buried her face into her hands, suddenly feeling not up to anything. But she had to, no matter how much she was or wasn't looking up to what she had planned to do. Gentle Heart stood once again, toweling her hair fully. She stopped to look in the mirror, taking note of her tired eyes. Somehow, she looked entirely different. She stared longer, trying to see what was different and finally pinpointed it. Her eyes just weren't sparkling with that famous Carebear expression. Now, they were dull and weary, tired and exhausted.

"It's nothing wrong," Gentle Heart whispered to herself, running her eyes to make herself focus more. She was only tired.

The lamb left the bathroom, feeling relieved when she met the much cooler air and made her way into the room to brush her wool. Standing before her dresser, she took her brush and ran it through her soft wool, already feeling much better. The mirror in front of her stirred, and she set the brush down quickly, knowing what was to come next. No Heart's image soon rippled into the mirror, and he looked down at her. "I see you have been prepared?"

"Um, I guess," Gentle Heart looked down, her first instinct.

No Heart shifted to the cat once again, stalking on to her dresser and pouncing down. He sat on his haunches, raising an eyebrow as he seemed to inspect her room. It was too bright for his liking. "Shall we begin?"

"Yes," she replied softly, walking to her closet and opening it.

No Heart shifted to his true form, standing behind her as she kneeled down, pulling the spare blankets away. Gentle Heart couldn't help but blush in embarrassment as she heard an aggravated growl coming from the sorcerer open knowing where his precious books were being kept. She pretended to be taking her time, only so her blushing could fade by the time she had to face No Heart again. Having that accomplishing, she sat on her bed, book in lap to the bookmarked page.

"What is it you'd like to learn of?" No Heart asked, already beginning a pace.

Gentle Heart blinked, noticing how little he even sat down or rested. She cleared her throat softly. "Um. It's this… something called _Dream Walking_. I don't think I really get it."

"Ah," No Heart replied, "Dream Walking… it is when one uses to magic to enter dreams, control your actions and even speak to characters within the dream."

"But… don't you already control what you do in dreams?" Gentle Heart questioned.

"Not necessarily. As you sleep, you only make subconscious actions. However, using magic, you can have complete control over what you do. And within dreams, your environment is actually considered real," No Heart informed the lamb, "Also! Since dreams are all subconscious things, based off of things you may not have been aware of in life, the dream environment usually your subconscious."  
Gentle Heart thought in silence, trying to make any sense of his last sentence. Slightly blushing, the toyed with the side of the page. "The environment is the subconscious?"

"Yes," No Heart answered, "Much is based off of emotions and personality within magic, so not all things are alike for those who use magic. Your subconscious involve both of these… and in dreams, it only displays all of these as your environment. Understand?"

"Yeah," Gentle Heart answered, staring down at the page, "Have you ever done this?"

There was a long silence from No Heart, and Gentle Heart couldn't help but look up to see what was stalling him. Instead, he raised an eyebrow at her. "Do _you_ plan to use Dream Walking?"

"Um. I don't know," Gentle Heart answered, completely aware he had changed the subject, "Do you think I can?"

"I do not advise it," No Heart replied, "It isn't exactly the safest form of magic for a beginner. Though I believe you have the capability to use it. It would take time for you learn, only weeks, if you desired it."

She sighed, suddenly feeling the overwhelming sense of weariness. She once again rubbed her eyes, trying to make herself feel awake. "I can't… there is something that my family does every year in a few weeks."

"Oh?" the sorcerer seemed to show great interest in this.

Gentle Heart nodded. "It's something we started doing a while back. It was just an excuse for a second Halloween at first, but somehow turned into a masquerade ball."

"…And you are stressed over who your partner shall be."

"Huh?" Gentle Heart looked up, wondering if she heard correctly.

No Heart chuckled. "Though I'm not fond of the initial idea, I am aware of the issues that many people have when it comes to selecting 'partners.' Also, I may have an idea of who it may be that is troubling you."

Gentle Heart only blinked. How was it possible that he knew everything that even she couldn't tell sometimes about herself? If someone like No Heart could notice these things, did that mean her family could easily tell, too? She only blinked, wondering if the sorcerer could even tell who was particularly causing stress for her. No Heart had a grin in his eyes. "I believe his name is Playful Heart?"

Hearing this made her blush insanely, and she once again looked down at her paws. She didn't really know what to say if she did want to say anything to begin with. She felt the bed shift under weight as No Heart shifted to a cat and walked to her side, sitting down. "You know that stress isn't a good thing when it comes to magic. Avoiding problems doesn't solve much… it may only create more trouble."

She was surprised to hear this come from his mouth. It sounded like something True Heart would have said to her. She swallowed, her dry throat feeling a bit relieved. "I can't do anything. I'll only hurt everyone's feelings."

How was it that she could admit these things to the enemy of her family rather than to them? No Heart purred, stretching his claws on the sheets of her bed. "If you do not want to harm feelings, there's always an option. Lying… it doesn't hurt anyone. It can save them."

She didn't looked up from her paws. "Lying?"

"Yes. It's either sparing someone and their emotions or only hurting them," No Heart replied, sitting upright again, "Would you truly want to see Playful Heart suffer heartache? Or just save him the trouble by lying?"

"But… what's there to lie about?" Gentle Heart slowly questioned, not knowing how she could avoid Playful by lying.

No Heart smirked. "Many things. You spent too much time arranging other things to think of a partner. You cannot go with him because you've never gone alone before and want to try that. You do not have the proper attire. Or… you can not go and suddenly change your mind at the last minute. He would have found another partner by then."

_That does make sense_, Gentle Heart thought, _And it's only doing Playful Heart a favor…_

No Heart waited for her reaction, still smiling deviously. She was in deep thought, still staring down at her paws, not yet blinking. "Being a Carebear Cousin, I'm sure you're considerate of the emotions of others... anyway! Back to this dream walking! I'm sure I can help prepare you, if you really do desire to perform it."  
Gentle Heart snapped back into reality by his words and softly nodded. "Oh. Right."

"Dream Walking is quite similar to the first magic I have ever shown you," he informed her, "Like it, Dream Walking can expose true emotion. This can be achieved by many means within the dream."

She looked down at the long page of ingredients. "I've never heard of any of this before."

He pounced from the bed, skillfully landing and shifting to his original form. "This would be because the ingredients are actually many potions. Therefore, there are many steps to Dream Walking. But, you can achieve it much faster without having to constantly go through the ingredients by putting it within your amulet."

With that said, he glanced at where the amulet would have normally rested around her neck. "…Have you lost it?"

"No!" she answered quickly, knowing it would have been horrible if she had lost something so pretty. Then she remembered where it really was… with Bright Heart. She instead thought quickly. "Cheer Bear is fixing a tangle in the chain."

No Heart had a grin showing in his eyes as he heard this. "See… lying is not _that_ difficult, now is it?"

* * *

"Oh, you're going to look absolutely _gorgeous!"_

Gentle Heart watched as Cheer Bear hunted through her closet. Gentle Heart sat on the bear's bed next to Share Bear. The two exchanged glances. "We're not even sure what we're going to be!"  
Cheer Bear momentarily poked her head from her closet, waving her paw in dismissal. "Don't worry about! Every girl in the Renaissance dressed the same. And really, who was actually famous that came from there?"

The door opened as Bright Heart and Grumpy Bear walked in, carrying in armfuls of cloth that they were requested to get. The two set it on the bed, which the pink bear moved on to it, searching frantically through the cloth. Bright Heart laughed. "Lots of people from the Renaissance became famous! Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Galileo, you name it!"  
Cheer shrugged, pulling out a pink cloth sample. "I'm sure they aren't that important… Share, this pink will match your tummy symbol! Oh, wait… it will be covered up. Never mind!"

Bright Heart shook his head in disbelief, sitting on the bed, too. "You know, we have lots of time to be planning all of this. Aren't you going to worry about a partner first?"

"Worry about a partner? We only have one and a half weeks to plan out what we're wearing! That's not enough time!" Cheer exclaimed, "I'm lucky to have made my dress already!"

"So that's what you were doing instead of going to tummy symbol practice," Grumpy stated.

The pink bear shrugged. "It's for a good cause. I'm loaded with making a lot of dresses, so I have to space everything out!"

As they debated over whether she could be excused, Bright Heart raccoon suddenly seemed to remember something. "Oh! Gentle Heart, here."

He handed her the amulet No Heart had given her. Gentle Heart placed the amulet around her neck, being sure not to gat any wool caught in the chain. She was successful in this, and looked to the raccoon. "Was there something wrong?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure… the caring meter reacted to it for no apparent reason. I was thinking some of the properties in it might set something off, but I'm not sure how a caring meter could do that. It would take a rocket scientist to figure that out."

"Then shouldn't you be able to know?" Gentle smiled.

He grinned. "I would if I have the right equipment."

They were interrupted as Cheer Bear suddenly squealed, holding up a cloth sample high into the air. "This is perfect!"

"Hmmm… teal. I guess that would work," Share said, "Thanks!"

"My pleasure! All I have to do is go to earth for all the supplies. I'll get back to you on that, because I have to start finding stuff for these three," Cheer said, motioning to Gentle, Grumpy and Bright Heart.

Share thanked Cheer Bear once again and soon moved on to her next victim. She pulled Grumpy Bear over to her, whipping out a flexible measurer and began taking measurements. Grumpy Bear stood still as she began measuring his head. "Um… is that necessary?"

"No, but just to be careful!" Cheer hummed, soon measuring his tummy, and soon his arms and legs, "Now, what did guys wear back then?"

"They wore a lot of things, Cheer. It depended on what kind of job you had, how much money you owned…" Bright Heart trailed off.

"Oh," Cheer answered, "Well, who do you want to be, Grumpy?"

"Shakespeare," he answered with a tint of a blush of his deep blue cheeks.

Gentle Heart leaned over to Bright Heart. "Who are you going to be?"

"Easy," Bright Heart grinned, "I'm going to be one of the brightest minds of the Renaissance! Leonardo Da Vinci!"

Gentle Heart knew that he was an artist, and many things more, but decided not to question him about it. She herself hadn't figured out who she wanted to be. She didn't know much about history, and not much about the people inside either. She wouldn't be here if she wasn't dragged into coming by Cheer Bear, so now she had no choice but to pick a persona. "Bright Heart, do you think you can help me with who I could be?"  
"Sure," Bright Heart replied, "What were you thinking of?"

The lamb shrugged. "It doesn't really matter… something that wouldn't be too hard for Cheer Bear to make, I guess."

Bright Heart soon start talking as fast as water running out of an upside down jug. She only blinked as he easily began naming dozens of women from the Renaissance. Amidst all of the words that spilled from his mouth, she heard something she liked. "Queen Elizabeth?"

"Well, not the original, really," Bright Heart added.

"A queen?" Cheer squealed, "Perfect! I can already imagine what everything will look like…"

Grumpy Bear coughed, causing Cheer to go back to measuring his tummy. Gentle Heart could see the wheels turning in her head, though, as she plotted out what her dress would be. Grumpy Bear scratched the back of his neck. "Cheer, can I talk to you?"

"Sure! What is it," she asked rather hastily, now wanting to move on to the next costume.

"In private?" Grumpy Bear added.

Gentle Heart could only assume that he was going to ask her to the ball. Without question, she and Bright Heart walked into the hallway outside of the door. The lamb didn't say anything, pretending to be very interested in a picture on the wall of everyone as they were only cubs. She couldn't help but smile, seeing how little and innocent Brave Heart looked compared to how he is now, and Noble Heart and True Heart standing over everyone. It was Bright Heart that caught her attention.

"Who are you going with?" he asked.

She blinked. "Um… I don't know…"

_See… lying is not that difficult, now is it?_

No Heart's words worked its way into her thoughts, and she almost considered saying that she didn't plan on going. But she realized she had no reason to lie. "…I have a lot of time, anyway."

"It's only a week away," Bright Heart said, "You better hurry!"

Not replying, she once again looked to the picture. It wasn't as interesting anymore, but it was the only thing that she could rest her eyes on. Sighing longingly, she couldn't seem to take her eyes off of it. To her left, the door suddenly opened, and Grumpy Bear walked out with a sad expression. Bright Heart opened his mouth to ask if he was alright, but the blue bear already reached the end of the hallway and crossed into the living room, past hearing range. The raccoon and lamb exchanged glances, assuming the worst had happened. Then Cheer soon walked out, with two color samples in her paw.

She handed them to Gentle Heart. "Here you go, Gentle. You can fix up your make up to match with these. Bright Heart, can I help you out tomorrow? I feel a bit overwhelmed suddenly."

"Sure, Cheer," Bright Heart said, "It's best to relax."

The two cousins quietly left her home, Gentle Heart looking down at the two colors in her paw. White and a sky blue. The two were pretty together, but it suddenly felt as though both the bears she had just encountered rubbed their sadness on her. Bright Heart looked at her with a wondering expression. "Well, I should get going and help out Grumpy. Bye!"  
With a wave, he ran off, leaving her standing on the porch to Cheer Bear's home. Gentle Heart wrung the cloth samples between her paws as she stared into the skies slowly turning orange and pink from the sunset. Reality was far from her at the time. She could only think of one thing that felt as though it may attach her back to the world. She looked up at skies were it was always darker than the rest, where the castle of No Heart hid. She would go there tonight. Everyone was too caught up in getting ready for the ball, anyway… she nodded to herself. "I'll go."

She looked down at her paws, and raised her eyebrows. She had twisted the cloth a lot more than she had expected. Shrugging it off, she concentrated on making a cloud car instead.

* * *

Gentle Heart followed the clicks of Beastly's sharp toenails scraping against the stone floor of the castle. It was completely dark in front of the lamb, and she hoped that Beastly wouldn't quietly step over something that would cause her to trip. So far, she was lucky. The brown, furry creature exhaled loudly for the hundredth time. "Right over here… you should really get familiar with these halls."

"It's hard when it's dark," she answered in a tone that even surprised her.

"Sheesh! I shouldn't have asked! Well, I, on the other hand, have memorized these halls like the back of my hand! I don't need light!" Beastly proudly boasted, then tripped over something.

Gentle Heart rolled her eyes, being careful not to step on whatever Beastly had. She made her way around it, and then when there was a flash of lightning, she could see familiar double doors ahead of her. "I know where I am, Beastly. You can go."

"You didn't have to tell me," he scoffed, heading off.

Gentle Heart glared at where she heard his voice. "Then you should have just left in the first place!"  
Beastly once again grumbled to himself about her tone of voice, and this time, she ignored it herself and made her way to where she had last seen the doors. Extending her arms, she felt the doors and pushed with all of her strength. The heavy doors slowly opened, and she was surprised to see the cauldron room in a light that she had never seen before. Stepping in cautiously, she looked around. "No Heart?"

"Yes?" a voice called, "Come to the cauldron."

Lightning boomed in the thunder pit, and she looked around as she walked forward. The room was lit with an eerie green light, which seemed to be coming from the cauldron. Shadows watched her intently as she walked, observing her every move and making her nervous. Walking up the stairs, she walked to the side of No Heart, who stood over the cauldron. He waved his hand around, and as he did, the green mist the cauldron was producing swirled hypnotically. She stared. "What is it?"

"The beginning of a spell," No Heart stated, "That you will soon learn."

"Me?" she asked.

He nodded, still not looking away from the cauldron. "You are much more advanced than other beginners. I am going to grant you the privilege of using this spell, for I have belief in you, that you can do it."

"Wow," she breathed, "What does it do?"

He finally stopped moving his hand, and the smoke faded, the green liquid within the cauldron suddenly turning a pleasant pink. Gentle Heart could feel the warmth radiating from it as the sorcerer spoke, "It is a spell specifically for placing within your amulet. As you may know, both I and my shadows are not what one would call caring. If you spend too much time around either me or my shadows, your caring meter may indicate that you are uncaring. So this spell will prevent that."

She nodded, "How long will it take?"

"Not long," No Heart answered, "Only days if you spend enough time on it. I suggest that you complete this long before the ball, or the caring meter may interrupt it when you walk near. I'm sure you've had similar experiences."

"Once," Gentle Heart said, "What does the stuff in the cauldron do for the spell?"

"It's just a small portion. The ingredients used within it may not be very safe for a Carebear to handle. So I took the liberty," No Heart said, opening his hand so a bottle could float into it from a desk.

Though the cauldron was nearly full to the brim with the odd mixture, No Heart only filled the small bottle with it and handed it to Gentle Heart. Into his other hand floated a sheet of paper that looked more like parchment. "Here are the rest of the ingredients and steps. This spell cannot be found in a book."

He handed both items to her. Gentle Heart read down the paper, and opened her mouth to ask a question before No Heart answered her. "All of the ingredients can be found in my castle… now, I have business to attend to, and I cannot have you within the castle."

He then shifted to a crow, and stretched his glossy wings. Flapping into the air, he glided past her without another word. The lamb stood for a moment, simply watching the pink liquid in the vial hypnotically wave back and forth. It was when there was a boom of thunder she snapped back into reality. Rubbing her eyes, she realized that she didn't even spend five minutes learning magic this time. Still, she was given something new to work on. She stared at the door that No Heart had flown out of. "Thanks…"

Though he was long gone, it felt like that was the only thing she could do to thank him for actually being kind. Her family would never believe her if she was to tell them this, but it wasn't as if they would know. Rather than wasting time standing in the middle of the cauldron room, she went to the double set of doors that served as both the entrance and exit. Shadows still floated on either side of the room, and as she walked by, she couldn't help but notice something. Just by the look in their red eyes, it was almost as though they were laughing at her.

A/N: Sorry for not updating in an eternity and this chapter being so short. I'm having the problem where you have over 500 ideas for stories, and have trouble concentrating on all of them. Plus, I've finally fully planned out my one-shot series coming up after this story… there will be 13 and up, all chapter-less, starring some OC's of mine. In the meantime, I may be awhile about updating, because everyone right about now is suffering from spring fever, and those crazy freshmen EOC schedules are being crazy again. Review if you liked!


	10. Uncontrollable Smiling

**10. Uncontrollable smiling**

Gentle Heart sleepily stood over the stove, only watching the pancake that rested in the pan bubble. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew this meant it was time to flip it. Using one paw to yawn, she used the other to poke her spatula underneath. It was then she learned the hard way that she had forgotten to butter the pan. Attempting to wake up more, Gentle Heart blinked her eyes a few times, then placed both her paws on the handle of the spatula. The pancake was glued to the pan, not budging no matter how hard she tried to lift the spatula. Finally, she pulled so hard the pancake dislodged itself. The lamb fell backwards, and the pancake flew through the air.

On the floor, Gentle Heart rubbed her eyes. "Whoops…"

All eyes were on her in the Hall of Hearts kitchen, including Grumpy Bear. The pancake hung from his right ear, and the blue bear pulled it off annoyingly. "Good job, Gentle Heart."

"Sorry," she whispered, looking at her feet, "I forgot to butter the pan."

Grumpy Bear just tossed the burnt pancake into the nearest trash can and grumbled, going back to his own station in the kitchen.

Gentle Heart watched as everyone went back to their own cooking, and exhaled softly. She hadn't cooked for breakfast in an eternity, let alone wake up so early for the task. She grabbed the butter stick that sat next to her on the counter and buttered the pan quietly. She knew she deserved being so tired. The previous night, she spent an overall two hours working on the spell No Heart had given her. It wasn't easy, because she only had a few of the ingredients that were required, and had to go to his castle twice to get them all. Gentle Heart grabbed the bowl of pancake batter and spooned some of it on to the pan. It began to sizzle, and she took the time to rest standing up. Closing her eyes, she rested his chin on her paw and leaned against the counter. She was getting hungrier and hungrier with each passing second, but knew she wasn't going to eat until she made the right amount of pancakes. Her family could eat a lot. Resisting another yawn, she finally folded her arms on the counter and rested her nose inside. Hoping she wouldn't fall asleep on the job, she closed her eyes once again.

"BOO!"

Gentle Heart jumped a mile high with a yelp, and once again fell flat on her haunches. Looking up, she saw no other than Playful Heart and Birthday Bear. She couldn't help but put on a sour expression as she stood up. Birthday Bear was trying to control his laughing, and Playful just weakly smiled. Gentle Heart brushed off her shoulders. "What are you doing here?"

"It's our turn, too!" Birthday exclaimed, then giggled, "Sorry… I couldn't help it. You don't have to be acting like Grumpy Bear or anything…"

"I heard that," Grumpy called over his shoulder, then managed to break his third egg of the day.

Gentle Heart exhaled. She didn't like the sound of both Playful and Birthday in the same place at once. Especially in a room filled with sharp utensils. Not saying anything, she just turned back to her pan and flipped the pancake. Behind her, she heard both of them shuffle away to get to work and smiled in relief. At least she didn't have to worry about Playful Heart talking to her. She always got too nervous around her, now knowing how he really felt.

She heard a bang as something was set on the burner next to her, and she felt her heart dropped. So much for her luck.

"Um, mind if I come over here? This is the only spot left," Playful Heart asked, tail swishing back and forth.

Gentle Heart only nodded, not saying anything. She really didn't know what to say, really. Playful Heart looked around him at all of the ingredients. "Um. I really don't know how to cook."

She just shrugged, flipping the pancake on to a plate that would later be taken to the breakfast line. She pretended to be preoccupied pouring more batter on to the pan, as if it needed great attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she could tell that he was getting nervous again, because his tail was still swishing around. He weakly grinned. "I probably sound really stupid right now, but what do you do first?"

"Make the batter," Gentle Heart replied quickly, "The instructions are on the box."

"Oh. Right," Playful Heart grabbed the box and scratched the back of his head as he read the instructions. He was taking his time, and then began to go along with the instructions.

"Hey, Gentle?" he fumbled with the eggs he was trying to crack against the edge of the bowl.

Gentle Heart inhaled sharply. She was hoping she would have to talk too much. "Need any help?"

"Um. No, I think I got this right," Playful began, and began using a towel next to him to wipe all of the slime that had dripped from the egg. "I wanted to ask you something…"

Gentle Heart stared at the pancake intensely, hoping that it would somehow save it. "Yeah?"

"Do you have a partner to go with to the ball?" Playful asked, now slightly blushing.

Gentle Heart snatched the spatula up and began flipping the pancake. She didn't know why she was getting so nervous! It was just a question, everyone was being asked this, so why was it such a big deal to her? "No…"

"Well… I was wondering… Would you wanna go with me?" Playful asked, now too caught in thinking what to say instead of acting distracted, "I mean… I thought it would be pretty fun going with the nicest cousin in the Forest of Feelings…"

Gentle Heart actually found herself flattered at the last comment. Looking up, Playful Heart was looking down at his feet innocently, blushing. Still, his tail was moving back and forth and back and forth, Gentle Heart felt tempted to grab it so he could stop. Then there was a clatter as someone leapt over towards them. Gentle Heart looked up to see no other than Love-A-Lot Bear. She wanted to scream in frustration at this point.

The magenta bear had flour all over her paws, and she rested one of them on Gentle Heart's shoulder. "Playful Heart, you need to understand that a girl isn't the fastest thinking creature in the world."

The monkey just blinked. "…Huh?"

"What I'm saying, you have to give her time to think," Love-A-Lot smiled, "So don't expect an answer right away."

Playful Heart looked at the two girls, and he seemed to relax a bit, finally. "If you say so…"

Gentle Heart felt the bear lightly elbow her side, and she whispered into her ear. "Your cue!"

"Oh! Um, I'll think about it, Playful," she gave him the best smile she could muster that might have looked reassuring.

Before he even had the chance to answer, Love-A-Lot had turned off the heat on the oven after flipping the pancake on to a plate, then dragged Gentle Heart away. The lamb didn't protest, being dragged along for the ride. Finally, Love-A-Lot led her outside, where the sun was still rising. Gentle Heart squinted, holding up a paw to block the sunrays. "Thanks for saving me…"

Love-A-Lot squealed with a bounce. "What are you gonna say?"

Gentle Heart ruffled her wool. "I don't know… it isn't that big of a deal…"

"Not that big of a deal? Pfft! Yes, it is!" Love-A-Lot grabbed the lamb's paws and looked into her eyes, "So, yes or no?"

"I said I don't know," Gentle Heart replied much more softly. At least she wasn't blushing as much as last time.

The magenta bear let go of her paws and sighed, closing her eyes. "Are you thinking about giving him a chance?"

Gentle Heart was already feeling much too pressured. She didn't know an answer. The one year she went with him, she had a really good time, so why not? But he liked her more than that, and she didn't feel the same way. Or at least she thought so. Gentle Heart blinked at her last thought, then looked up to see a waiting Love-A-Lot. She remembered No Heart telling her that it was easy lying. She could do that now to get out of this if she wanted to. Love-A-Lot smiled. "He said you were the nicest person in the Forest of Feelings, remember!"

"But-" Gentle Heart began to spoke before Love-A-Lot interrupted.

"If you refuse, the next thing you know, there isn't gonna be any free guy in all of the Kingdom of Caring, and you'll end up going alone!" she squeezed her paws again, "And you'll make Playful really happy!"

She could make two people happy. She still wanted to learn magic, so she could also see if that would be successful. She could go with Playful Heart, too. She didn't want to hurt any feelings. As much as she had battled with herself about answering for so long…

Gentle Heart finally closed her eyes. She felt she was going to regret this. Sincerely. "Well… okay."

Love-A-Lot nearly screamed and jumped out. "Perfect! This year is going to be the best!"

Gentle Heart then felt the blush beginning to crawl to her cheeks. She looked to Love-A-Lot with pleading eyes. "You're being loud…"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Love-A-Lot lowered her voice sheepishly, "So, I'll go tell him!"

The magenta bear turned to leave, but Gentle Heart whirled her around with force that even surprised herself. "What?"

"Oh. Would you rather say it?" she asked.

Gentle Heart put a paw to her forehead. "Sorry, I'm getting really worked up and it's just over a dance."

Love-A-Lot slowly grinned. "Just a dance? You didn't realize, did you?"

"Realize what?"  
"That he was asking you out, too!"

"What?" Gentle Heart felt her jaw drop, "How do you know that?"

Love-A-Lot smiled even more. "I know this stuff. All of my caring missions are getting to people together, rescuing them from splitting, helping boys and girls with crushes… I just know these things. Guys get so nervous sometimes about asking girls out they just forget to say something. Or the real blunt ones think the girls know what they're talking about. So, you still gonna say yes?"

Gentle Heart sat down in the soft clouds, both paws on her forehead. "This is so annoying…"

"Don't worry," Love-A-Lot sat down next to her, "Everyone goes through it at some point. And it's always good to take a chance…"

"I must have bad luck. I've been worse than Grumpy for weeks," Gentle Heart found herself explaining this for no apparent reason. "Everything is so confusing… I just need some time to myself."

"Are you sure?" Love-A-Lot asked, "I can tell Playful you just said no, before it gets too close to the ball."

Gentle Heart stood up quickly and began walking away. "Just say yes."

She didn't know why she was just leaving. She knew it was her turn to be cooking breakfast for the week. But she had better things to do. Behind her, Love-A-Lot stood up. "Are you mad?"

"Yes," she called over, glad it didn't sound as mean as her others comments have been in the past.

Love-A-Lot cocked her head to the side. "Why?"

Gentle Heart looked over her shoulder, mouth open and ready to reply. But then she thought about the question. Why was she mad? She didn't even have a reason. Instead of answering the question, she just began walking again. "I forgot I had plans."

* * *

What was once a four days to the ball was now only two days, including this very one. Gentle Heart sat in her room, her only company being several ingredients and mixtures of a spell. With tired eyes, she looked down at the single paper that listed all of the instructions. She leaned back with a yawn, ruffling her wool and looking to the clock on her bedside table. It was eleven. She'd normally be in bed and asleep by nine, because she was an early riser. Most of her family stayed up later than that, but now they were all most likely asleep. Bedtime Bear would be awake by now.

She rubbed her tired eyes and looked in front of her. Her amulet laid on the ground along with the other ingredients. She was almost done. Maybe in another hour, maybe. Gentle Heart read down the instructions all again, making sure she had everything. Of all the ingredients, they were combined to make three separate ones. Now, all she had to do was say a few things, mix the three separate potions. Then she would finally be finished. Gentle Heart yawned for the third time, then grabbed the nearest potion. She needed something to hold it all. Gentle Heart stood, her leg muscles tingling from sitting so long. She rubbed her eyes as she walked though the hallway of her small home, and went into the kitchen. The light above her was bright, and she attempted to awaken herself from her dazed and tired state. She lightly hit herself in the face. "Wake up."

No good. Wandering to the sink, she turned on the faucet and waited until the water ran ice cold. Dipping her paws underneath the running water, she gathered a handful and splashed in on to her face. She shivered, then turned off the water with a blink. She was beginning to get very desperate to stay awake lately.

* * *

"It's finished! It's finished!"

Gentle Heart instantly woke up when hearing the voice, then looked around her quickly. Where was she? Then realizing just exactly where she laid, she saw the spell ingredients around her. Without a second thought, she began to hurriedly hide them. The one last ingredient still laid on the floor along with her amulet, and she shoved it all beneath her bed. Luckily, nothing was blocking the way, and she stood straight. No other than Cheer Bear came running into her room, a bag slung over her shoulder. "I finished it!"

Gentle Heart felt her head swimming from standing so quickly, and answered in a raspy morning-voice. "What's finished?"

"Your dress, what else?" Cheer smiled victoriously as she dropped it on the bed, "You look like you just woke up!"

"I did," Gentle replied dryly, blinking groggily.

Cheer Bear raised her eyebrows. "Wow, you must have been up late last night. In that case then, you're going to bed early if you want to look alright for the ball tomorrow night!"

Hearing herself say this, she squealed. Gentle Heart raised a paw to rub her sore eyes. She must have fallen asleep last night while finishing up her spell. She had gotten pretty far. She had said the words, and mixed the ingredients. There was only one last thing to do. Thinking this, she heard rustling as Cheer Bear took something from the bag and held it up. "So, how do you like it?"

Gentle Heart looked up and gasped. "It's beautiful…"

Cheer Bear smiled successfully as the lamb held it in wonder. For a handmade one, this had to be the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. It was all white, and perfectly resembled dresses she had seen in Renaissance pictures. There weren't any straps, it was held in the back like a corset and the bottom fluffed out. The strings that held everything in place on the back and kept it tight was covered by a white bow with long tails, and the tops portion ended in a V-shape in the front. Gentle Heart saw that she was just staring. "You made this?"

Cheer nodded, "Yep! I actually got a bit inspired by some Halloween costumes I saw. The only really hard part was making all of the strings in the back a pattern. Can you tell I used different cloth textures on the bottom? So it kind of looks uneven… sorry."

"Cheer Bear, it's perfect!" Gentle Heart couldn't stop staring.

All of this… for her? She wanted to say something but couldn't before Cheer Bear walked to the door and began closing it. "Well, let's see what it looks like! Try it on… you might need some help with the strings so call me when you need it!"  
Then she closed the door. Gentle Heart stared at the closed door for a long while, then looked down at the dress. It was so pretty. How could someone make something so beautiful and just give it away? Especially to her? Gentle Heart ran a paw down the soft cloth. She felt she didn't deserve it. Still, she followed Cheer's instructions and began dressing into it.

Gentle Heart stared at herself in the full-length mirror in her closet at Cheer Bear tightened the strings. It was a perfect fit, even though every time Cheer pulled on a string she had to inhale. The pink bear stopped, and then stepped back to admire her work with a smile. "You look gorgeous! But you didn't need to have the dress for me to tell you that…"

"Thanks," Gentle Heart breathed.

She did as she was instructed, turning at certain angles so Cheer Bear could comment on every one. Gentle Heart looked once again into the mirror as Cheer Bear stood behind her, paw to her chin. "I'm already imagining what we could do to your hair… you're so lucky that you can style yours."

Gentle Heart ran a paw through her wool. She never really thought of styling it before… all she did was brush it. After all, most sheep wool was a bit coarse, so she was lucky to have hers soft. Then Cheer Bear seemed to remember something. "Oh, I need to go give Share Bear her dress! Well, don't wear out your dress before tomorrow night!"

"Okay," Gentle Heart softly answered.

Cheer Bear soon left in a hurry. For one last moment, Gentle Heart stared at herself in the mirror. She had to admit, most of Cheer Bear's comments were pretty accurate. But there was still one thing missing from her face. She stared into her own eyes. They still were dark and tired. There wasn't any sign of life inside. She closed her eyes as she turned away from the mirror and carefully removed the dress. She still had things to do.

She carefully set the dress on her bed, then fished out her potions beneath along with her amulet. Though hours had passed since she had fallen asleep, the potion had still kept. The vial No Heart had given her filled with the pink liquid also rolled out from beneath the bed, and she scooped it up to lay next to everything else. She sat Indian-style, nervously biting her lower lip. She had worked hours and hours to make this. She hoped she would do it right.

Lifting up her amulet by the chain, she read the instructions over and over again at least a dozen time. Finally, she carefully suspended it above the thick pot she had to use as a cauldron substitute. The potion inside was deep purple, and light. Not oozing and sliming like the kind in witch movies. She held her breath as she lowered the amulet into the potion. Soon, the entire blue gem was submerged. She waited, wishing for the best. Everything was working. The potion began to grow lighter and lighter, swirling like bathwater going down a drain. It all swirled around the amulet, the amount in the pot decreasing with every second. Then, it was finally gone. It vanished, and the pot sat empty while the amulet had changed colors to that of the potions. Gentle Heart swallowed. The first step was done. Grabbing the vile of pink liquid No Heart had made specifically for her, she lightly set the amulet inside the pot so there would be spills.

Pulling the cork from the vile, a light mist drifted from inside, the same color as its contents. She carefully poured the mixture over her amulet, being sure not to miss. It didn't drip off or roll to the side. Instead, it just vanished into the amulet. The gemstone switched colors from the deep purple to light pink, then returned to the original color of light blue. Gentle Heart blinked. Nothing happened. Upon closer inspection, the amulet was completely dry. She slowly put it on and looked around her room, expecting something to happen. But it didn't.

Gentle Heart jumped to her feet was a victorious smile. "I did it!"

She forgot about all of her thoughts of attempting Dream Walking, knowing that she would concentrate on what she just did instead. No Heart said that this was a difficult spell, and she did it just fine! It was because he said he believed she could do it. Gentle Heart looked down at her amulet, still smiling. "No Heart said he believed I could…"

"And you did."

Gentle Heart looked up to see No Heart in her mirror. She couldn't stop smiling. "I finished it! Did I do it right?"

"Yes, you did," No Heart replied, "And you did a very good job of it, at that. You truly are a good sorceress."

Gentle Heart _still_ couldn't stop her smiling. She felt she looked fairly stupid, but didn't mind. "Sorry I had to use a pot instead of a cauldron…"

"It was a good example of improvising and thinking quickly," No Heart replied, "You didn't do anything wrong. But remember to wear your amulet to the masquerade. You wouldn't want the caring meter to go off and to be caught."

She nodded. "I'll remember."

No Heart's image slowly began to fade away. "Good luck."

Soon, the mirror was back to normal. Gentle Heart clasped on to her amulet once again, smiling. Despite her good mood, she was still feeling boxed in after spending so much time in her room. Looking outside her window, she could see that the weather was very nice. Deciding she would take a walk, she once again pushed the instructions, vial and pot beneath her bed and hurried to get outside.

The Forest of Feelings hinted that spring was coming to an end and summer was arriving. For the past few months, the flowers, plants and trees had been soft pastels. Now they were beginning to grow bolder and much more bright and radiant. Gentle Heart strongly breathed in the clear Forest of Feelings air, feeling as though she could never be better. She assumed the reason why the Forest was so empty was because everyone was preparing for the masquerade tomorrow night. She was pretty much doing okay. She had her dress, and Cheer Bear offered to do her makeup. After all, Gentle Heart never wore makeup, never really seeing a use for it. But being a masquerade, she needed to look her part and wear some. There was a rustle in the trees, and she looked up to see a familiar monkey cousin hopping from branch to branch while eating a banana at the same time.

Playful Heart noticed Gentle and hopped over to her, hanging from his tail on a tree branch. He gave her a shy smile. "Hi!"

"Hi Playful," Gentle Heart greeted him. She was in too much of a good mood to worry about things of all times.

Playful Heart relaxed his tail to hop out of the tree and throw his banana peel behind his shoulder. "I haven't seen you in some time…"

"I'm sorry, I've been preoccupied with the ball," Gentle Heart explained and began walking with him down the Forest of Feelings.

Playful Heart nodded. "I'm pretty lost when it comes to that, like looking the part. I don't think I'm going to fit in with everyone else's costumes. But it's still going to be a lot of fun."

"You're right. Who are you going to be?" Gentle Heart questioned.

Playful shrugged. "I dunno… just some random person from back then. I don't know any famous people from back then. Bright Heart told me how they dressed, so that was my only option."

"Okay," Gentle Heart responded.

"…What's so funny?" Playful Heart grinned, raising his eyebrows.

The lamb just blinked. "Huh?"

"You've been smiling forever. What's so funny?" he repeated.

Gentle Heart tried to stop, but couldn't. She finally gave up on attempting to do so. "It's just been a really good day."

A/N: Okay, this just might be the second to last chapter. I'm on my fifth day of summer break over here, so I have more time to be updating. I just finished this entire chapter for two days, so there's still hope! The 'Scarlet' series will be up in no time!


	11. Counting Down the Hours

**11.**

Gentle Heart had a rude awakening of ice down her back. Popping her eyes open, she sat up and blinked. Where was she? It was when she saw the grinning faces of Friend Bear and Share Bear, she remembered. Blinking once more, she grabbed the ice cube that had slid down her back. "Um. Thanks?"

"You're the last one to wake up," Share Bear explained, "So it was tradition to use the ice!"

Gentle Heart swung her legs over the side of the couch she had spent the night in. Rubbing her eyes, she saw that everyone else had left the room aside from she, Friend Bear and Share. The had spent the night at the house of Treat Heart pig, along with all of the other girls in the Kingdom of Caring. Then she remembered what the day was. Or rather, what would be taking place at night.

Friend Bear grabbed Gentle Heart's paw. "C'mon! If you still want breakfast, that is."

She was pulled into the kitchen. An enormous stack of pancakes was in the middle of the table, and there were Care Bears and Cousins everywhere. The table, the counter, the floor, standing, sitting or laying. The mountain of pancakes was decreasing at a steady rate. Whoever said girls can't eat was wrong. Everyone turned to face the three who had just entered the room. At all of the attention on her, Gentle Heart slightly blushed.

"So you've finally woken up, Gentle Heart?" Swift Heart grinned.

The lamb weakly smiled. "I just about had to."

Then the rabbit cousin took note that the pancakes were beginning to disappear. She smacked the paw of Wish Bear. "Save some for the early riser! Pigs!"

"Thanks," Treat Heart giggled and managed to snatch a pancake.

Swift Heart rolled her eyes. "You might as well get your breakfast before these guys get rid of them all. Then they'll resort to cannibalism."

Gentle Heart smiled when Cheer Bear, who sat on the counter reached behind her for a plate. It was a going to be a good day. The pink bear handed the plate to her. She hopefully looked at her. "You're coming to my house, right? To get ready for the ball?"

"Yeah," Gentle Heart nodded.

Cheer Bear smiled. "Okay! You better hurry up or you won't have much of a breakfast…"

x

It was four o' clock, another four hours until the ball. Gentle Heart drove her cloud car through the clear skies, flying to her home in the Forest of Feelings. It was going to be a perfect night for the ball. After spending time at Treat Heart's house, she somehow was pulled into Care-A lot to help at the Hall of Hearts. Of course, she didn't decorate anything. She had spent time in the kitchens, making the food for the ball. It was after the third time Birthday Bear tried to sneak a peek into the actual room where the ball would take place, Noble Heart just locked the door to it. No one minded. And now Gentle Heart was going to get her dress. With that accomplished, it would then be her job to go to Cheer Bear's house. Gentle Heart decided not to question why she was going so early.

It was when she arrived that she realized why. Almost every girl in the Kingdom of Caring was there… the only exceptions were those who were setting up the Hall of Hearts. Gentle Heart slung her dress over her shoulder, hopping out of the cloud car and shutting the door. Walking up the cloudy ground to Cheer Bear's house, she could hear all of the voices already. She rose a hand to knock on the door, but it swung open anyway. Cheer Bear stood there with an enormous grin planted on her face. "Gentle Heart! What took you so long?"

The lamb blinked. "I thought I was on time…"

"Which is why you're late," Cheer Bear answered, "You should've come here earlier… we were playing truth or dare."

Gentle Heart weakly smiled as she was pulled inside. She was thankful she missed it… some of the dares she had gotten before were embarrassing. Cheer Bear sat Gentle down in the chair. "I'm just now starting with helping everyone… I've never seen anyone so clueless on how to tie a dress!"

"Okay," Gentle Heart replied. She herself was confused when it came to tying the strings on her dress… she had no idea which ones went where.

Cheer Bear dashed off, grabbing Wish Bear in the process to begin her work. Gentle Heart looked over to see Proud Heart cat, who was carefully picking off all of the fur on her dress. She looked up from her work. "Hello, Gentle Heart. Who are you being for the ball?"

"Um. A queen," she answered and quickly added, "Bright Heart thought of it."

The cat purred. "No surprise. Just about everyone went to him for ideas. Have you talked to Playful Heart today?"

Gentle Heart nodded again. "For a while in the Hall of Hearts," she answered, then attempted to change the subject, "What about you? As in, who you're being for the ball."

"A princess," she answered with a smile, "And I'm going with Brave Heart."

"That's a good idea. What about Brave Heart?" Gentle Heart questioned, then realized what she asked. Of course she knew what Brave Heart would be.

"A king," Proud Heart replied, "But I'm sure you were expecting that…"

"Actually, yes," Gentle Heart laughed.

Cheer Bear walked into the room. "NEXT!"

Everyone flinched when she shouted, and before anyone could react, the pink bear snatched an unsuspecting Swift Heart. The blue rabbit squirmed. "I don't need help! And I don't need your makeup, either!"

Gentle Heart giggled along with everyone else, yet she also knew it wouldn't be long until Cheer Bear took her.

When that time came, Cheer Bear pulled Gentle Heart away from the couch. The lamb passed by several others who were in their dresses. One of the many was Swift Heart, who was fanning herself and tugging at her dress collar at the same time. "Cheer, is it supposed to be this hot in one of these things?"

"Yes," Cheer answered, not taking a break from pulling Gentle Heart, "But that doesn't matter. You're looks are more important than health!"

Gentle Heart just blinked, deciding not to think too much on what Cheer had just said. She finally arrived in Cheer Bear's bedroom. The walls were the same color as Cheer Bear's fur, and it was wide and spacious. The first thing Gentle Heart noticed was the full-body mirror and dresser, with hundreds of different makeup utensils sitting on it. Cheer Bear smiled, rubbing her paws together. "Okay. Which first? Hair, makeup or your dress?"

Gentle Heart, sitting on the end of the bed, didn't answer. Now she understood why she came so early. But, she was near the last person of all, and it was now only three hours to the ball. Cheer Bear shrugged. "I'm guessing the dress. I'll help you with the strings and everything when you're done."

She turned around and hummed a little tune. Gentle Heart assumed this meant she was going to change into her dress. Grabbing it, she pulled it on and almost tripped on the loose fabric around her feet. She regained her footing. "Um. Okay…"

"Good!" Cheer Bear walked to the lamb. "Turn around."

Gentle Heart did so, and then felt Cheer Bear grabbed the strings of her dress and pull hard. She coughed when the dress was tightened. "Is it supposed to suffocate you?"

"Yep," the pink bear answered cheerfully, "But you'll get used to it in a few minutes."

The lamb could finally understand just why Swift Heart wasn't too fond of these things. After what felt like hours, the strings were tightened. Cheer Bear turned Gentle around to face the full-length mirror. "Okay!"

Gentle Heart blinked at herself. She almost looked thinner from the strings being tightened so much, but she assumed it was her imagination. She smiled at Cheer. "Thanks."

The pink bear smiled back. "Your welcome! You're necklace goes perfect with your dress, too! Okay. Now how about we move on to hair?"

She lifted a brush and began attacking it. It was several painful tugs of a hairbrush and ten bottles of hairspray later this task was accomplished. Cheer Bear took a step back to admire her work. Gentle Heart coughed on the fumes of the hairspray, attempting to wave it from her face. She looked to Cheer, who was rubbing her chin. "It looks like something is missing… I think I have just the right thing, but I need to find it."

When she went to her closet, Gentle Heart looked at her reflection. It was true what Cheer had said earlier. Her necklace did match her white dress. She stared at the reflection of her amulet. Then it started moving. With a blink, she held it in her own paw and looked down. The blue coloring of the gem almost looked like it was moving. It had never done that before. She stared a bit longer, confused. _The spell I set on it must be starting to work, _she thought to herself, _so the caring meter won't go off. It's nothing bad._

Cheer Bear finally shut the door to her closet with a smile. "Found it! It's a bit smaller than I thought, but it's just the perfect thing for your costume."

She pranced to Gentle Heart. The lamb could feel something light be placed on her head, and looked to the mirror to see what is was. A white tiara sat on her head, sparkling in the light. She smiled. "It's so pretty… ow!"

Something poked her in the side of the face, and she raised a paw to touch it. Cheer Bear grabbed her paw. "Don't rub it!"

Gentle Heart blinked, looking at what was in Cheer's paw. Eyeliner. "Huh?"

"I gave you a beauty mark," Cheer sheepishly smiled, "I thought it would fit a queen."

Gentle Heart looked at her reflection. A dot of eyeliner was just below her cheek, making a fake beauty mark. Surprisingly, it looked realistic. "Um. Thanks?"

"No problem," Cheer answered, "But you're done! You're pretty enough… you don't need make up."

Gentle Heart slightly blushed at her comment, and then was lightly pushed from the door. "Remember! If you need anything during the ball, you come to me!"

Before she could reply, Cheer Bear screamed 'next' again right in her ear. Gentle Heart winced at the loud noise, covering her ears. _Do us a favor and shut your moth_, the lamb thought. Realizing what she had said, she blinked. Where had _that_ come from? She felt something touch her arm, and looked up to see no other than Love-A-Lot Bear. She looked stunning in her dress, which was also white. The magenta bear smiled. "We're gonna meet the guys. Are you coming with us?"

"Who is _we_?" Gentle Heart blinked.

Love-A-Lot almost looked surprised at first, but then answered nicely, "Proud Heart, Treat Heart, Wish Bear and I. You too, hopefully."

Gentle Heart nodded. "Sure. How much longer until the ball?"

Love-A-Lot scratched her chin. "Um. Two and a half hours now, I think. Maybe less."

"I'll go," Gentle Heart agreed and followed her outside to the waiting cloud car.

Treat Heart sat at the driver's seat and giggled. "Now we can see how much trouble they're having getting ready."

With that said, she slammed her foot on the accelerator, causing the cloud car to leap into the air. Gentle Heart, along with everyone else, fell over in their seats. However, she was the only one who wasn't laughing. She silently glared at Treat Heart, and then stared out the side of the cloud car. They were high in the sky in a matter of seconds as they drove to the Forest of Feelings.

A crow landed on the side of the cloud car, right near Gentle Heart. She recognized this crow easily, and looked to her friends. No one had noticed. The purple crow blinked at her. "I suppose tonight you shall see if your spell has worked or not."

"I guess," Gentle Heart replied to No Heart.

He ruffled his deep purple feathers. "This must've involved quite some planning. I'm surprised. I always thought your family was too stupid for that."

"They aren't stupid," Gentle Heart harshly whispered, then shut her mouth, it occurring to her that she had just snapped at No Heart.

However, he hardly seemed offended. The bird just rose his eyebrows, smiling in amusement. "Oh my. You seem to be quite the cranky Care Bear. My apologies."

Then he flapped off with a caw. The caw had caught the attention of the others. Wish Bear blinked. "Was that a crow?"

When Gentle Heart nodded silently, the turquoise bear shrugged. "I didn't know there were crows in Care-A lot. Or since we're here, the Forest of Feelings."

Treat Heart landed the cloud car on the soft grass of the Forest of Feelings. They were just outside a cave. It was where Brave Heart lived. Gentle Heart carefully stepped out of the cloud car, trying not to walk on her white dress. There wasn't a door to Brave Heart's home. He liked the feeling of the wilderness instead. Treat Heart hopped to the entrance. "Knock, knock!"

"Uh… come in!"

Gentle Heart exchanged glances with the others. Then they stepped inside. Brave Heart was scurrying around his cave, a handful of night lights in his paws. Seeing them come in, he hid them behind his back. "Um. Hi! You look pretty…"  
"We know you have night lights, Brave Heart," Wish Bear laughed, "Don't worry about it."

The someone else hopped over from the other side of the cave with a laugh. "Yeah, don't worry! Playful Heart is here to protect you from the monsters!"

Brave Heart blinked. "Playful, don't you have something better to do? Like talk to your _sweetheart_?"

Everyone giggled at this comment. The monkey cousin folded his arms across his chest and walked over to Gentle Heart without a word. He had a big smile on his face. "Wow, Gentle! You look great!"

She blushed. "Thanks. You do, too."

Playful Heart squirmed. "These pants are too tight."

He wore a loose white shirt that was long at the sleeves, and brown pants that also looked scratchy. Not only did he look like an average Joe from the Renaissance, it was obvious that he was wearing clothes meant for humans. He swished his tail back and forth. "Ready for the ball? Only an hour away…"

"An hour?" Gentle Heart asked. She must have spent more time with Cheer Bear than she had thought. "I thought we still had another one."

He shook his head. "Nope. It'll be fun!"

Gentle Heart opened her mouth to answer, but then her collar bone almost felt like it burned. She rose a paw to rub the place, but only felt her amulet. The burning went away. "We'll need luck for it to be fun."

Playful laughed. "Yeah, Good Luck will be there."

Gentle Heart just blinked. That wasn't what she meant. Everyone else went off to wander with each other. But Playful pulled at the collar of his shirt. "It's too hot in here. Um. Wanna go outside?"

She shrugged. "Whatever."

Playful didn't reply at first, shutting his mouth. Then he just smiled. "I'll take that as a yes."

Gentle Heart didn't say anything, walking out of Brave Heart's cave with Playful Heart. She had said 'whatever,' not 'yes.' That was rude of him just to assume that. Gentle Heart kept her mouth shut as they walked out. The sky was still light, and birds flew above their heads, chirping happily. Playful Heart stretched, careful not to rip his new pants in the process. He shoved his paws into his pockets. "It's too bad I can't climb in the trees with all this on…"

"Sure," Gentle Heart answered quickly. Why was he always talking about himself? She fanned herself with her paw. She was feeling warm again.

Playful Heart noticed that she was fanning herself. "Is it too hot out here?"

"No, not at all. After all, _you_ want to be out here, right?" she asked, eyes not leaving his.

His tail started to swish again… and obvious sign he was getting nervous. "Um. Gentle Heart? Are you feeling okay?"

She continued to fan herself. "This dress is suffocating me. Of course I'm not okay."

Now Playful Heart looked as though he had stopped his jaw from dropping. His tail swished faster. "Want me to loosen the strings?"

"I don't need help. You think I can't do it myself?" Gentle Heart asked. Her chest was burning again. _So now he thinks I'm helpless. I can handle myself fine._

Playful Heart finally grabbed his tail and held it in his paws. "Are you sure? It won't trouble me at all. If it's for you…"

"You?" the lamb paused from fanning herself, and placed a paw over her amulet, where the burning was.

"No… not me. You're beginning to look sick. Do you need to sit down?" Playful Heart asked with concern.

"Yes," Gentle Heart finally answered, agreeing with him for the first time. She sat down on a nearby rock, inhaling deeply. A violet bird flew to her side, chirping brightly. She waved it off with her paw, not wanting to hear the chirping now. It flew off with a small confused chirp. She looked up to see a worried Playful Heart.

"Do you want me to get you some water?" he asked.

"Why do you keep talking about yourself?" Gentle Heart asked, still fanning herself, "Don't you care about me?"

"I care," Playful Heart replied in a quiet tone, clearly confused at why she was acting this way.

The lamb stopped fanning herself, closing her eyes. "You sure don't act like it. If you're going to be this way at the dance, it would just feel like I was going alone. So I think I should."

There was a long silence. Playful Heart dropped his tail, and it didn't swish for a change. He looked as though he hadn't heard correctly. "…What?"  
Eyes still closed, Gentle Heart sighed. She could see that the purple bird was back in the corner of her eye, and she was thankful it wasn't chirping for a change. This was the only time it was quiet before. "It would be best if I didn't go with you to the ball. Or go out with you… if this is the way you're going to act."

She felt relieved when the burning on her chest stopped. She opened her eyes to see Playful Heart. He looked crushed… something she had never seen. Rather than following the Care Bear ways, she just looked at him, waiting for a reply. He swallowed. "Alright. If that's what you want…"

"It is," she stated flatly.

He stood still for a moment, and then without a word, turned and began walking inside to the cave. His tail dragged on the ground, and he looked pitiful. Gentle Heart could hear the bird fly off, only it cawed. She ignored this and just blinked at him. She felt much better now.

Playful Heart jumped a mile high when Brave Heart popped his head out from the cave. "Come on, lovebirds! Let's go!"

Gentle Heart, feeling much better, stood and walked to him. The lion cousin wrapped an arm around her, and the other around Playful. Brave Heart drew them in with a smile. "I bet you two are ready for a romantic slow dance, huh?"  
Playful weakly smiled, though it didn't show in his eyes at all. "I think they're saving it for you and Proud Heart, though!"

"Speaking of me, I'll be needing this," Proud Heart said, walking over with the others. She took Brave Heart by the paw and walked with him to the cloud car.

Playful took one glance at Gentle Heart, then walked to the cloud car, tail still dragging on the ground. Gentle Heart looked as he walked._ It was going to happen no matter what_, Gentle Heart thought to herself, _It's not my problem or anything I need to care about._

A/N: My apologies that was all so crammed together. Next chapter will be the end of the story… I'm desperate for reviews. So do so if you liked it. :\


	12. All things come to an end

**12.**

Despite the foul mood she was in, even Gentle Heart was surprised at the Hall of Hearts decorations. There were enormous towers of what looked to be cardboard laid against the walls painted white to appear as bricks, and they actually looked convincing at first glance. The spaces between the 'towers' were covered in deep blue paint, which could be undone with some Care Bear stares when it wasn't needed, and dotted to be night skies. The normal chandelier hanging above the Hall of Hearts had a white orb fixed around it and glowed. Obviously, it was intended to look like the moon. Gentle Heart was silent, just blinking at the scene before her. Even she didn't expect her family to work this hard on the ball. The moment was quickly interrupted by Brave Heart. "Ooh! Punch!"

The lion pulled at his collar, but his eyes didn't leave the enormous bowl that sat on a long, white table. Brave Heart turned around and extended his paw to Proud Heart. "Ladies first."

The cat purred, approving of his act of courtesy. Taking his paw, she turned her head. "Gentle? Wish? Aren't you coming?"

Wish Bear nodded, grabbing Birthday by the arm and walked by Proud Heart's side. The yellow Bear didn't protest, but smiled goofily like he always did. Gentle Heart lifted her dress and walked by Brave Heart. She didn't say a word, but it wasn't long until the lion noticed her and raised his eyebrows with a grin. "Embarrassed of your Playful Heart already?"

She looked to him out of the corner of her eye. "He's not _my_ Playful Heart."

Brave Heart did a cross between a snicker and a wheezy laugh, if it was possible. "Denial?"

The lamb shut her eyes in aggravation. "No. Really."

It was then the others decided to tune in. Proud Heart opened her mouth to say something, but Brave Heart didn't even notice her. He was looking over his shoulder to see Playful Heart just standing by the Hall of Hearts entrance with a wandering Funshine. "But you were going out with him right before we left!"

"We stopped," Gentle Heart hastily replied.

It was then Proud Heart got her turn to speak. "Who broke up with who?"

_Suddenly the Kingdom of Caring is like a soap opera._ Gentle Heart was somehow finding it annoying how her dress wouldn't lift in the back when she tried to hold it up. This little complication only seemed to frustrate her more and more. "I broke up with him."

"Is he okay?" Birthday Bear asked, automatically showing concern for his best friend.

Gentle Heart, even though she was in an unpleasant mood, didn't even expect the next thing she blurted out. "It doesn't matter."

That was enough to make Brave Heart gasp like it was his last breath, and even Wish Bear seemed to slam on her brakes. Gentle Heart just blinked at them, her own surprise at her words quickly fading away. The blue-green bear cocked her head. "What?"

"I have _never_ heard _you_ say anything like that before," Proud Heart commented.

Birthday Bear, attempting to lighten up the moment, cracked an awkward smile. "It must be the apocalypse…"

Gentle Heart didn't see any humor in his words. Instead, she just flattened her ears farther back than they were and turned. Marching off, she realized she must look silly… walking arrogantly while holding her dress. So she dropped it and let it flow beneath her. The lamb could hear the small group of Care Bears and cousins behind her begin to whisper, but ignored it. They just didn't understand her. The lamb cast her gaze to the floor, softly murmuring to herself. "I have been in this family for years. And they don't even understand who I really am."

Looking up, she realized the truth. She was alone. Though she just claimed that her entire family didn't understand her true self, she had a sudden desperation to stand with someone and not be lonely. So she leapt towards the closest group near her that didn't include her previous partners. Standing in the corner of the room was True Heart, Noble Heart, and Tender Heart and Love-A-Lot as his date, all seeming to be discussing how well things turned out. When she approached, Noble Heart horse smiled at her. He was dressed as though he was in the Renaissance Military. "Hello, Gentle Heart. You're early."

She raised her paws to push back her falling tiara. "I guess so… we wanted to see the decorations."

"They did a wonderful job," True Heart commented.

_Even the founders of the Kingdom of Caring don't understand me. They spent all their time with the other Care Bears and the other Cousins. _Gentle Heart didn't even smile at True Heart as this realization hit her. _They lied. They say they care. But if they do… then why don't they care to take time with me?_

Noble Heart pulled at the collar of his uniform, also seeming to be uncomfortable like the other males. As Gentle Heart paid more attention, she realized that he was giving Tender Heart a curious look as he pulled. The brown bear coughed. "Are you okay? You don't look too well."

Gentle Heart bit her lower lip. "I look bad?"

"No, that's not what I meant," Tender Heart sputtered out, weakly smiling as if to prove he wasn't talking about that.

_So now I don't even look good enough for my family._

Love-A-Lot Bear placed a paw on his shoulder and smiled. "It's okay, Tender Heart. Us girls aren't _that_ sensitive. Gentle Heart, I can walk with you to the bathroom if you aren't feeling well."

"I can do it myself," the lamb replied, her answer seeming to come out in a hiss.

This raised the eyebrows of the four she was standing with. Even Noble Heart and True Heart didn't say anything as she turned and began walking to the bathrooms. As she trudged to her destination, she realized more Care Bears were arriving, and the noise level was gradually increasing. Gentle Heart could already feel a headache coming on. She quickened her pace and finally reached the restrooms. Instantly, she headed to the restroom mirror and looked into her reflection. What she saw even caught her off guard. Rather than Gentle Heart staring back at her, she saw an entirely different lamb. An agitated expression that seemed permanent was planted on her face, and there were dark circles beneath her eyes. Even the normal icy blue color of her eyes appeared to be many shades darker, and the hairspray that held her hair up had the urge to give up on it's work so curls of wool hung at her forehead. The lamb inhaled deeply, and released her breath as a long sigh.

"It's an improvement," she told her reflection, "If they don't like it… then they don't like me."

"Who doesn't like you?"

Gentle Heart jumped at the voice, and turned to see Swift Heart standing at the entryway of the restroom. The lamb huffed and forcefully turned a sink faucet on, shoving her hands underneath the water. "What do you want?"

"Well, seeing as how we're in a bathroom, I _guess_ that I'm in here to use it," Swift Heart smiled, hardly phased by the question Gentle Heart snapped at her.

The sarcastic humor of the rabbit, along with how she handles things almost seemed to be a barrier against Gentle Heart and her temper. The rabbit walked to the sink next to Gentle Heart, grabbing a paper towel in the process. "Actually, because I'm such a genius, I tripped and got some punch on this rag called a dress. I think no one will notice, and the stuff doesn't even stain. But of course it wasn't long until Cheer Bear noticed and she wouldn't hear any of that…"

Gentle Heart stayed silent, lathering her paws in soap to look preoccupied. The ramblings of Swift Heart seemed to be pushing her buttons and making her much more agitated. "…And to add on top of that," Swift Heart continued, "She was asking me earlier who I was going to dance with. That's funny… the last time I tried dancing I almost burned down my house. As strange as it sounds, I'm not lying. You see, it was in the kitchen and-"

"You talk a lot," Gentle Heart finally commented, drying her paws, although not turning off the faucet.

Swift Heart looked up from scrubbing at her dress, ears perking up. "Thanks!"

Gentle Heart walked past her, coming close to shouldering her. "It wasn't a compliment."

The rabbit cousin hopped to the sink that was just abandoned. "Save some for the fishes," she said mainly to herself as she turned the faucet off.

x

As soon as Gentle Heart stepped outside into the Hall of Hearts, it was as if someone took a blow horn and blew it right into her face. The noise level was high as her entire family was crammed into the same room, and everyone seemed to be talking at once. The same feeling of loneliness took hold of her, and she searched for anyone to stand by. In the process, she also spied Playful Heart sitting at the side of room moping. Birthday Bear and Wish Bear seemed to be attempting to cheer him up. Rather than feeling the same sympathy that they did, Gentle Heart rolled her eyes.

Good Luck Bear noticed the lamb, and walked to her with Cozy Heart. "Hi, Gentle. You lose Playful Heart in the crowd?"

Gentle Heart momentarily glanced to the monkey sitting at the row on chairs lined against the wall. "Yeah. I'll find him in a while."

"We're in for a speech," Cozy Heart said as she watched Noble Heart walk in front of the snack table. Gentle Heart also turned her attention to the horse cousin.

Noble Heart raised a glass from the table along with a spoon, lightly hitting it to produce enough noise. It gradually caught the attention of the room, and he set them down with a smile. "Care Bears, Care Bear cousins… welcome to the annual May Masquerade Ball!"

This produced a loud cheer from the crowd, and Gentle Heart winced. She was the only one that wasn't clapping or cheering. Noble Heart horse raised his paws to quiet everyone down. Though it took some time, the cheers faded away to give him more time to speak. "Now, let's have a round of applause for our decorations for this year and the ones responsible! Let's hear it for Share, Harmony, Champ, Love-A-Lot Bear, and Loyal Heart dog!"  
Once again, the entire Care Bear family erupted in a boom of applause, with the exception of one Care Bear cousin. Gentle Heart just sighed, watching dully as even Noble Heart joined in. The applause came to a halt after a few moments. Noble Heart tucked his hands behind his back with a smile. "Now, how about I stop wasting your time so we can get this ball started?"

On cue, classical music began playing from a tape player strategically hidden around the room. There was some clapping, and soon the room began talking once more. She turned to see Good Luck trying to bounce in rhythm to the classical music. "This isn't so bad…"

Cozy Heart giggled. "Let's go talk to some people before you hurt yourself."

_They're leaving you._

Like a blow to the head, Gentle Heart almost staggered backwards, and put a paw to her forehead. It suddenly felt as though someone had taken the liberty of hitting her with a baseball bat. Gentle Heart groaned, more out of confusion than anything else. What was once a sharp pain was now just a dull ache. And a burning sensation at her chest was beginning to make itself known. Paw still at her forehead, she dully blinked. What was that? Blinking like mad to regain her vision, she looked around the room. And spotted at the indoor window sill an all too familiar bird. No Heart just seemed to be staring at her.

_After all you've done, they're leaving you. They're all leaving you._

It was No Heart's voice, and he was in the shape of a bird. His red eyes almost seemed to be burning holes in her skin. That was enough to make a new emotion grow in the pit of her stomach. Though she had spent much more time with the sorcerer than any other Care Bear or Cousin, she now felt fear. Then she realized it. She wasn't afraid of No Heart. She was afraid of her family. Afraid they would leave her.

_You tried so hard just to earn their respect. And it wasn't good enough for them._

The burning at her chest suddenly tripled, and Gentle Heart tightly shut her eyes. Why was this happening? Though there wasn't any sign of pain or ache in her legs, they just gave away like twigs snapping, and she fell to the floor. Gentle Heart breathed in shaky breaths. Somehow, through all of this, one of the thoughts that crept into her mind was whether or not the burning in her chest might feel similar to breaking a bone. Maybe seconds passed until anyone noticed her. Or maybe even minutes, considering how much her family didn't care for her. But when someone did, they kneeled next to her.

"Gentle Heart? What's wrong?"

Looking up, her vision was cleared enough to see that it was True Heart who had spotted her. Gentle Heart blinked. "Huh?"

The white bear said something, most likely an offer to stand up, but when she got any closer the burning on her chest suddenly increased. Gentle Heart shakily sat to her knees and shot an angry glare at True Heart. "Get _away_ from me!"

_You finally understand… they aren't here to help you. It took time, but you know the true intentions of your family. And they aren't intentions to help you._

"Gentle, we're just trying to help," True Heart said, reaching out a paw to touch her shoulder.

It was almost as if someone was holding a hot branding iron right next to her shoulder. Only it was True Heart's paw. Gentle Heart shrank away from her touch, more confused than ever. She didn't understand anything that was going on. Realizing that the Care Bear family was beginning to crowd around her, she only shrank back more. She wanted them to leave. Then one particular Cousin jumped to her side in a heartbeat. It was Playful Heart. Whatever words he was going to say, he didn't get a chance.

"Step away from the lamb."  
Everyone looked up at once, and Gentle Heart shakily smiled. No Heart. He would help her. The sorcerer was in his true form and was stepping towards them. Of course, Noble Heart and True Heart were the first to raise their tummy symbols in preparation for stares. No Heart chuckled. "Every time you harm me, you are only doing the same for her."

He raised a clawed finger, pointing to Gentle Heart. The lamb slowly blinked. His words seemed to be going right over her head, and she didn't understand him. Playful Heart stood, clenching his paws into fists. "What'd you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything," the sorcerer replied, "It was you who did this to her. You made her bring this upon herself."

It was clear to everyone he was smiling beneath his hood, and he was enjoying the fact no one seemed to understand what he was talking about. Gentle Heart, however, knew perfectly well what he meant. True Heart, who still stood next to her, laid a paw on her shoulder as if in comfort. But it only felt as though the pain on her chest and moved to her shoulder. The lamb winced, ducking away from her touch instantly. True Heart blinked, helplessly unaware of what she was feeling. "Gentle Heart, your necklace."

She glanced down to the necklace that laid on her chest and could see what was different. The sky blue gem was glowing with such intensity, the color was almost white, and it was there that she burned. Gentle Heart couldn't think of anything to say, or the explanation for this. It was because No Heart was around… his uncaring was making the spell work double time. It was his words that made her lose focus on her thoughts.

"Do not touch her, if you do not want the risk of endangering her health," No Heart declared, "Do not even approach her."

Brave Heart finally had had enough of waiting, and he stomped forward with an angry growl, tummy symbol glowing. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing, as I have said before," the sorcerer laughed, "Perhaps if you knew the full story, you will understand what I am saying. Gentle Heart."

The lamb looked up to meet his red eyes. She could feel his smile as he spoke. "Tell them what you have been doing."

Though his command was vague, she knew what he meant. All eyes of the family shifted. They were all looking at her. Gentle Heart swallowed, finding herself beginning to shake. "Tell them!" No Heart snapped, even making her jump.

True Heart kneeled beside her, careful not to get too close. "Tell us what, Gentle Heart?"

The lamb finally realized she had to say it. No matter how much she didn't want to, they were all going to find out soon enough. Taking in a deep, shaky breath and then exhaling it, she closed to her eyes to avoid everyone's stares. "I've been…"

She was wishing that her throat would close up so she wouldn't have to say anything. She momentarily opened her eyes to see No Heart, looming over her family and waiting for a response, though he knew what she was going to say. It was then she realized her mistake. She made the mistake of even trusting him in the first place. Gentle Heart bit her lower lip, shutting her eyes tight. She could already feel tears forming behind her eyelids… more out of humiliation and realization than anything else. "I've been seeing No Heart and I've been learning magic."

In a cracking voice, she quickly added, "And I was wrong to do it."

No one even answered at first. No one gasped or anything. She opened her eyes just to be sure, and was surprised to see that not one member of her family was looking at her. All eyes were on No Heart, who looked quite proud of himself with his arms folded across his chest.

Once again, Playful Heart stomped forward in a way Gentle Heart had never seen him walk before. "What did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything," No Heart laughed, "She was the one who put the spell on herself that you are seeing right now. It was her own fault."

Gentle Heart blinked, not coming to a full understanding just yet. "Spell?"

No Heart laughed. "Yes, it was the closest thing to magic you have ever done. I would have done it myself, but the spell required for you to perform it for it to work."

Gentle Heart wanted to know so many answers to the questions she was thinking of, but was concentrating more on sorting them out right now. She had done magic before… so why was he saying that the spell supposedly on her was the only magic she has ever done? But Noble Heart got to ask the first question. "What kind of spell?"

Though it was clear that even he was angered at the fact No Heart had done this, the horse cousin still managed to stay calm. No Heart seemed to consider answering the question, then simply shrugged. "Seeing as how you do not stand a chance against me now, I might as well explain it. I am sure you recall the 'cloud of uncaring.' It seemed to distress you quite a bit," No Heart began, eyes falling on Gentle Heart, "Imagine all of that power in uncaring packed into one. All focused on one particular Care Bear."

Gentle Heart swallowed, not looking away from his red eyes. She remembered the cloud of uncaring. It was the closest her family ever came to being defeated by the sorcerer. No Heart didn't take his eyes off of her, and she could feel his smile as he went on. "Not only would it make the cousin quite uncaring and unaware of it… but the spell has another plus. It would also slowly turn others around that cousin uncaring, little by little. None of you may be aware of it now, but your feelings of caring and love are slowly being drained from you."

The expressions of shock that came to the Care Bear family only made him laugh. No Heart continued, "For the spell to work, the pawn on the uncaring must set it upon themselves. But, being generally all-knowing when it comes to magic, I completed the majority of the ingredients into making the spell work. Therefore, I am the one pulling all of the strings."

Gentle Heart closed her eyes. "I can't believe I listened to you."

Her voice only came out as a whisper, but it was so quiet in the room everyone seemed to have heard. No Heart stepped forward, placing his hands behind his back and approached Gentle Heart, his posture giving him the appearance of a stalking animal. "You believed me because you are what you're family believes to be. Worthless, weak, and unable to exist on her own. You needed more than you even though. You cannot rely on yourself… you latch on to anyone who comes to you. That's the only reason why you are still here. You didn't even make magic… I had to use my own for it to appear that way. You are unsuccessful and worthless."

"She is _not_ worthless!"

No Heart turned to face the source of the yell with raised eyebrows. It was Playful Heart. His tail lashed from side to side in anger, and his tummy symbol was glowing brightly. "How can you even say that to someone?"

No Heart growled. "Use your cousin call on me. It won't hurt me. It will hurt Gentle Heart," he gestured towards the lamb, then raised himself to look at everyone, "As I have said, I am the one in charge. With only a few words, I can change the entire spell if I wanted to. And right now, if one of you even tries to hit me with your stares or calls, it will lead to the end of your caring, and her existence!"

"You wouldn't dare," Brave Heart snarled, in a matter that no one would have expected.

Even No Heart raised his brows, but his expression quickly changed. "That wasn't very Care Bear-like of you, Brave Heart lion. Just proof that my spell is working."

Gentle Heart's eyes were closed. Surprisingly, she didn't even ache anymore. No one even dared go near her now, knowing what the consequences would be. In the back of her head, she could hear Brave Heart already retaliating to what No Heart had just said. But she wasn't focusing on that. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe _herself_. As if to remind her, the necklace around her neck began growing warm, but not to the point where it burned like earlier. It was the fault of this necklace everything went wrong. She lied to her family. She even endangered her family by testing a potion on one of them. Or was that even No Heart using his own magic? Then she realized what she had realized not two seconds ago. It was the necklace that was the source of all of this. No Heart just thought she was too stupid to realize this. Even Gentle Heart was unsure if it was truly her feeling anger, or if it was just the spell, as she realized this. She was not stupid. No Heart was now at the point of shouting at Brave Heart in anger at what the cousin had recently said, and he didn't even notice her. To prepare herself for the worst, she inhaled deeply, then raised her paws to the chain of the necklace. Tightening her shut eyes, she clasped her paws over the chain. And yelped.

Gentle Heart looked to her paws to see the chain had made lines into her paws, only a few shades darker than her normal mint green fur. The lines quickly disappeared, though the burning didn't. No Heart had laughed and once again approached her, towering over her small height. "You don't have the strength to do it. You are too weak and powerless. After all of this time with your family, and how they have treated you, you still do not realize this? Then you are quite obviously brainless, too."

He turned and began walking from her. Gentle Heart stared down at her paws. Emotions similar to the ones she had felt previously were boiling up inside her. She closed the paws she was looking at, then glared up at the back of No Heart. "I am not brainless."

She didn't realize her tummy symbol was even glowing to begin with. But she became aware of it when a call slipped from her, aimed right at the wizard. The bright glowing beam of light made contact with the sorcerer. He only arched his back momentarily, then whirled around to face the lamb, eyes glowing in rage. "Fool!"

Gentle Heart already felt the burning begin to happen again. But she didn't double over like earlier, but slowly stood. Playful Heart was at her side in a minute. He reached out a paw to make contact, but stopped himself. "What are you doing?"

Gentle Heart was beginning to shake, but she didn't move. And as soon as it came, the burning left her. She glared at No Heart. "I'm not a fool, either."

Once again, all eyes were on her. She inhaled sharply, then breathed it out. "Your spell has turned me against my own family. It's all your fault you made me hurt them."

"It's your own fault for placing your trust in your own enemies hands," No Heart growled, "Now silence, before I make you do it myself."

"No," Gentle Heart suddenly blurted. If her necklace wasn't going to hurt her, she was safe to be saying this to No Heart. She knew that he wouldn't dare hurt the pawn of his spell.

But these thoughts began to change when he turned on heel, deep purple smoke billowing from the ground around him. In only seconds, the smoke cleared away to reveal that he had shifted. And he had taken to the form of a seven foot tall, snarling werewolf. He lowered his wolf head to be level with Gentle Heart and narrowed his red eyes. In a low, ominous tone he spoke. "I said silence."

Gentle Heart wanted to step back or increase the distance between them, but stood her ground. She prayed that the next words she said wouldn't be her last. "Make me."

With a snarl of outrage, the hackles on the werewolf rose in anger as No Heart straightened, and then shifted his weight on to one foot, slightly leaning backwards. His arm left his side to be raised, and Gentle Heart saw what was coming. What sounded like a squeak came from her mouth, and she found that she was glued to the spot and unable to even move out of the way. No doubt was she afraid of what might come next. But a flash of orange-gold fur leapt to her and tackled her out of the way. The contact made the burning in her necklace begin to start again, and it lasted only a few moments until she skidded to a halt. Looking up, she put a paw to the necklace, but quickly stopped when it only hurt her paws. "Thanks, Playful Heart. I owe you."

The monkey also jumped to his feet, though his landing was a bit off. He weakly smiled. "It looked like you needed some help."

No Heart had hit the floor with his fist so hard it almost sounded like it was enough force to break his hand, but the purple werewolf was fine. And now his attention was directed on Playful Heart. For a few seconds, he just stared, as if calculating on his next move. Then with reflexes much too fast to be human, he reached out one of his massive paws and snatched the monkey cousin by the collar of his costume. With a squeak, Playful Heart was lifted off of the ground in seconds and dangled above the ground. No Heart raised him to eye level. "Do not interfere, Care Bear!"

Gentle Heart could only watch helplessly as Playful Heart hung from his shirt, which refused to slip off of him, trying to free himself, but was completely unsuccessful in his attempts, which only made the sorcerer laugh. The lamb did the first thing that came to her mind. She reached up and placed both of her paws around the chain of the necklace, and lifted. It burned terribly, and it almost felt as though someone else was pulling down, trying to prevent her from removing it. Closing her eyes, she mustered up all of her strength and pulled, trying her best to not let go from the heat the chain gave off. _Do it for your family,_ she repeated in her head, _do it for Playful Heart._

She almost fell backwards when the pulling on the chain ceased. Hearing a harmless click, she opened her eyes to see that the glowing necklace chain had just snapped. And the gem had fell on to the floor with a small click, the glowing not stopping. The spell was still in affect. Gentle Heart's eyes darted up to No Heart. He hadn't let go of Playful Heart, who finally gave up on struggling to get free from his grasp. He, too, looked from Gentle Heart to the glowing gem. She could actually see a bit of emotion flash through his eyes, and she recognized it easily. Fear. Now, she felt a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, now seeing the situation. She was in control now. And No Heart knew it. As soon as her tummy symbol began glowing, No Heart carelessly dropped Playful Heart, and whirled completely around to the gem. _"No!"_

Gentle Heart forced the call to come out much faster than it normally would. It made direct contact with the gem before No Heart even was close enough to reach out for it. It was all over in three seconds.

The gem glowed completely white, absorbing the call. Then simply shattered into pieces. The shards of the gem didn't roll far away, all soon coming to a stop.

Things grew silent once more. Playful Heart slowly got to his feet, wobbling from lack of energy, having wasted it on trying to get free from No Heart's grasp. He slowly walked to Gentle Heart's side, blinking at the shards of the gem. "…Is it over?"

The lamb stared down at the scorch marks left on the floor from the gem, unsure. "I think so."

She felt a pat on her back, and turned to see Noble Heart horse and True Heart bear. The lamb couldn't seem to do anything else at the time but smile, not knowing what words were appropriate for the moment. Then she realized that she had completely forgotten about someone, and looked to see No Heart. He was in his true form once more, and was near shaking with rage. His words were barely above a whisper, harsh and filled with hatred. "You fool!"

Noble Heart motioned for the Care Bear family to form a line. "Care Bear countdown!"

The sorcerer didn't budge from his spot, eyes locked on Gentle Heart lamb. As if to prove he wasn't going to back down now, in a flash of lightning he was in the form of an enormous draft horse that towered over every member of her family. Easily his massive hooves could crush anything that got close enough.

"Four… three… two… one… stare!"

All of the stares and calls found their target, and the purple horse planted his hooves on to the Hall of Hearts tile floor to avoid being completely pushed backwards. Gentle Heart poured out all of her feelings of caring into the call, trying her best to push No Heart backwards. Looking to her side, Playful Heart was doing just the same thing. Though she was putting all of her energy into the call, Gentle Heart reached up and lightly tapped the monkey on his arm. He looked over to her, and she weakly smiled. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Playful Heart replied.

She focused her attention on to her call once more, and could see that No Heart still wasn't budging, which was something she didn't expect. Usually, when the entire family had their stares and calls combined, he would back down. But not now. She watched along with everyone else as the giant horse took one step forward. Then another. Everyone around her was also getting tired, and one after one, stares and calls would end. Finally, every one of the stares ended. No Heart stood only meters away, slightly swaying, but otherwise perfectly fine. He tossed his mane once, then kept coming. "Foolish Care Bears," he spat, "You are much too brainless to even realize you can never get rid of me. No matter how many times you stare, and you call, I will still be here! And I won't go away until each and every one of you is finished! And _you_," his eyes darted to Gentle Heart, "You will pay for what you have done!"

He jumped forward, galloping straight at the Care Bear family, though Gentle Heart was specifically in his line of sight. Rather than plowing straight into them, everyone jumped out of the way, leaving No Heart to gallop past them. The horse began turning around to face the family, only to be greeted by a Care Bear stare in the face, and took a few lumbering steps backwards in surprise. Brave Heart lion chuckled. "Bulls-eye."

No Heart had backed up far enough to open the doors to the Rainbow Rescue Beam room of the Hall of Hearts, and was soon standing completely in it. When the call faded, he shook his head in attempts to become focused, and snorted at the cousin. "You'll pay for that, lion!"

The smile on Brave Heart's face completely ended when No Heart reared onto his hind legs in preparation for another gallop. Gentle Heart was getting to her feet from having jumped from No Heart, and heard someone beside her.

"I think I have an idea," Bright Heart said, putting a paw to his chin.

"What?" Gentle Heart asked.

The purple raccoon stood up. "Just tell everyone to do their stares and calls at once, and keep walking towards No Heart. I'll be right back!"

Bright Heart seemed to suddenly disappear, and Gentle Heart looked up to see No Heart rearing up. He was going to go for them again. Going as fast as she could, she dashed to Noble Heart, hurriedly explaining what Bright Heart had said to do. Noble Heart horse nodded. "Whatever he's planning, we'll give it a try. Everyone, countdown!"

The Care Bear family all gradually got to their feet, forming a messy line as No Heart's front hooves pounded on the ground as he landed.

"Three, two, one! Care Bear stare!"

Once more, the Hall of Hearts was lit up with the lights of Care Bear stares and Cousin calls. And again, they hit No Heart just as he was raising his hooves to begin a gallop. Just as Bright Heart instructed them to do, they began walking forward. Gentle Heart, from her spot in the line, could see what Bright Heart had intended to do. No Heart began walking backwards, having no other choice. Soon, he was forced to step backwards on to the Rainbow Rescue Beam platform. Gentle Heart tried her best to keep her stare going, unsure of when to stop. It was when she heard Bright Heart yell, she followed his instructions.

The purple raccoon was standing close to the rescue beam console when he began jumping and yelling. "Okay! Stop!"

Everyone followed his orders and ended their stares. When the blinding lights died down, Gentle Heart could see that No Heart was at the center of the Rainbow Rescue Beam platform, with his head lowered and ears flat. However, it wasn't long until he regained his posture.

Grumpy Bear stood at the controls, finger hovering over a specific button. "One purple horse sent to earth, coming up!"  
No Heart, realizing what was going to happen, straightened and shot an angered glare straight at Gentle Heart. Grumpy Bear dropped his finger, pressing down on the button. There was a bright flash of light, then he was gone. The platform was empty, as if No Heart had never been there.

"Where did you send him?" asked Tender Heart.

Grumpy Bear checked the controls and cracked a smile. "In the mountains close by Paradise Valley. We owe it all to Good Luck for that. He won't be back for a long time!"

"It won't be long," Gentle Heart said softly, although not intending to ruin the moment, "He's smarter than that."

Noble Heart horse and True Heart bear walked to either side of her once more, both laying their paws on her shoulders. True Heart managed to smile. "Are you alright?"

Gentle Heart looked down at her paws from where she had grabbed the necklace, and could see the faint marks of the chain. They didn't hurt a bit. "I'm okay. But I guess you're not," she added quietly, "After you've figured out what I've been doing."

"That's not true," True Heart replied, "Though I don't know the full story, I do know that No Heart is a manipulative liar. It isn't you're fault he is that way and dragged you into the entire mess."

"I guess I do have some explaining to do," Gentle Heart murmured, looking down at the floor.

Noble Heart cracked a smile. "We can save that for later. Besides, we were in the middle of a party before No Heart rudely interrupted."

Gentle Heart looked down at her once pure white dress. Now, the front had a line of gray running down it from where she had fell on the floor. "The ball?"

Noble Heart nodded. "Not too much damage was done. There might be some scratches on the tile from that horse No Heart turned to, but everything is alright."

It was then she felt a weight on her shoulder, and the lamb looked over to see Love-A-Lot bear leaning against her. She smiled. "I say the ball is unimportant. We need to celebrate more important things right now… plus, there's always next year!"

"Celebrate what?" Gentle Heart bleated, not following the magenta bear's words.

Love-A-Lot grinned. "You, of course!"

The lamb could already feel a blush starting to spread on to her face. "Why me?"

"Why not you," Tender Heart chimed in, "Today you just took on No Heart all by yourself. And after everything you have been through, you're still standing here in one piece. No Heart was wrong… you aren't weak."

"We might have to switch names," Brave Heart added.

Now Gentle Heart could feel the blush on her features growing more obvious. She put her paws to her nose in an attempt to hide it, and looked to Noble Heart. "You aren't mad at me? I told you guys that I was learning magic from No Heart."

The horse scratched his head. "Well, I am going to be honest and say that I feel a bit clueless, since I never even suspected a thing. But it isn't your fault. There will be a point in time when I will listen to the story of what truly happened to you, but now isn't the time or place. You heard Love-A-Lot… we have a party to finish."

Even if she wanted to stay put, Gentle Heart couldn't have, because a wave of Care Bears and Cousins suddenly swamped her. Lotsa-Heart lifted her on to his shoulder without any effort, and trumpeted loudly in her face.

Gentle Heart winced at the loud noise, then smiled. It didn't bother her one bit, unlike it would have half an hour ago. And it felt like the best feeling she ever experienced.

x

Winds of intense speed carried snow and swirled it in all directions. Anyone unfortunate enough to be at the current setting would be most miserable, if not suffering from hypothermia. And through the dark skies, a rainbow darted past, heading straight for one of the looming, snow-covered mountains. No Heart barely knew what had hit him in the first place. One second, he was in the Hall of Hearts, and in another, he was flying through the air at breakneck speeds. The rainbow finally came to a halt, spitting the sorcerer out on to the snow. Still in the form of a horse, his landing wasn't as graceful as it could have been, with four legs being tangled together, and the large draft horse slid down through the snow for a few feet before coming to a stop. No Heart raised his head from the snow, not bothering to shake his mane out. The Care Bears had just defeated him. They had done it numerous times before, but this one was different. It felt like a sucker-punch to the face, and he knew why.

Standing up, he shifted to his true form, not bothering with the effects of lightning or purple smoke. The wind blew around him fiercely, making his robe sleeves whip around, but the cowl sill managed to stay in place. If he wanted to, he could be back at his castle in just minutes by using his magic. But he didn't want to show up anywhere near the Kingdom of Caring at the time with his new realization. This defeat was different because Beastly hadn't been around. Shrieky wasn't around either. For one of the first times, he had no one to blame but himself.

x

What was once classical music was replaced by loud music from the 80's on the tape player, and everyone was moving around. Gentle Heart lamb sat in the corner of the room, finally having some time to herself. For hours since the party started, she was showed much more attention than she had ever been showed in her life. Or so it felt that way. It also hadn't been long until Take Care Bear showed up with concerns about her paws or where the necklace had rested around her neck, so she was also relieved to have left her office. She watched happily and contentedly as her family tried to look decent enough with their dancing to the 'Breakfast Club' soundtrack. The lamb had removed the tiara from her hair, and now played with it in her paws as she listened to the music and just watched her family. She was still surprised at how forgiving her family was at what she had done. Everyone had come to her at some point just to explain this. Then she realized that only one cousin hadn't talked to her yet.

Looking out into the crowd of Care Bears and Cousins that swarmed the Hall of Hearts, she couldn't seem to find Playful Heart monkey. She soon knew why, for he popped up beside her with two cups in his paws. Sitting down in the chair beside her, he flashed her a grin. "Mind if I join you?"

"No," Gentle Heart answered, "It's okay."

A moment of silence passed between the two before the monkey raised one of the cups. "Punch?"

Gentle Heart smiled, taking the cup with a thanks. The song playing changed to a slower one, and Gentle Heart could see that nearly half of the Care Bears and Cousins already on the 'dance floor' cleared off to let some others slow dance. Of course, no one really took it seriously and she could see some of her family members suppressing their laughs as they stepped on their partner's feet. The lamb looked down to the floor, softly clearing her throat. "Sorry for being mean to you before we came here. Even the spell that was on me isn't a good excuse for that."

"Forget the spell," Playful Heart answered, "All of that ended two hours ago. It's history, and now we're just focusing on having fun."

"That still doesn't mean it was okay of me to be rude to you," she softly said.

"It doesn't matter. If you wanted to go to the ball alone, it was your choice," Playful Heart replied.

Gentle Heart not only found it strange that Playful was putting side his constant hyper ways and speak normally without pulling a prank at the same time. Her eyes hadn't left the floor, and she could begin to feel her cheeks slightly flush pink. "But I still want to. The spell made me say those mean things and that I didn't want to go with you."

She could already see his tail start to swish back and forth. "Really?"

The lamb quietly nodded, the blush from her cheeks fading. She had been wanting to say that since the party had started, so he wouldn't still think she was sour at him, but never really worked up the courage to go and find him. Having said it, she felt much better and finally looked up to Playful Heart. He grinned, jumping from the seat and took her paw in his own. "The song's almost over… we better get in some dance-time before it ends!"

Not complaining, Gentle Heart followed him to the center of the room. Placing her paws on his shoulders with a small blush, she lightly smiled. "I like this song."

-The End-

A/N: It's over. Finally.  Yeah, I saw that ending much too corny myself, but my mind just kept drawing blanks after that line. For those of you who are familiar with Breakfast Club, you might know that there aren't really any slow songs in that movie, so I was picture 'Don't Forget About Me.' Yesh… that movie isn't very Care Bear-ish but ah, well. So. My apologies for making everything to crammed together like that, but I was rushed into just ending this story. That can't be good.  
Moving on… it's time for me to thank all of my reviewers! Thank you Fauna Greywolf, NebulaBelt (And for suggesting this fic a zillion times… even though my username was still wretchedwords then. :s thankees!), sun tzu1, eagle205, takecarebear, unknown, dr. review, J.A.M and dr. phil. I really like that last username. 


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